Tuesday, 28 October 2025

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (22:33): (2031) The clock is ticking for people with disabilities living in supported independent living homes in Victoria. They face an uncertain future, as group homes are being forced to close due to the imminent lapse of state government subsidies. Responsibility for supported independent living residences, SILs, used to fall to the states, but in 2014, prior to the rollout of the NDIS, the then opposition leader Daniel Andrews promised that under his government supported independent living residences would not be privatised, much to the relief of residents and disability workers. That was clearly a non-core promise, as within two years these very residences were indeed privatised, and the affected workers previously employed by the government were transferred to the private sector and to private awards. They were, however, able to retain the same staffing ratios and conditions embedded in their EBAs thanks to state government subsidies, which covered the gap in funding left by NDIS funding.

This funding is due to lapse in December, less than eight weeks away. This leaves staff working in SILs worse off to the tune of several hundred dollars a week in some cases, adding to the crisis in the disability sector as it struggles to attract and retain workers, with insufficient funding for decent wages and conditions. The impact it will have on residents of SILs is disastrous. What is to become of the residents in these homes? Paul Healey, the secretary of the Health and Community Services Union, recently spoke of a group of five men who have been living together for 35 years, the majority of their lives. But now, because their NDIS funding does not match and neither the state nor federal government is prepared to cover the shortfall in funding, they will be forced to leave their home of 35 years. Where will they go? They have no choice but to live independently with no friends and no housemates, isolated and lonely. Over 50 group homes across the state have already closed, with hundreds more facing closure, destabilising the lives of nearly 5000 residents and risking the jobs of 7500 disability support workers. This will inevitably lead to greater demand on our already stretched health services. Despite the urgency of this issue, there has been no commitment to extend these critical subsidies. So my request is that the Minister for Disability meet with HACSU representatives to discuss the government extending subsidies for disability workers.