Australian Services Union calls for portable leave for NDIS contract staff
A new report from the McKell Institute, commissioned by the Australian Services Union (ASU), suggests a growing need to save the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) through adjusting to new trends in the workforce.
Key findings from the report state:
- NDIS workforce will likely need to grow by 40 percent, or 128,000 workers, by June, 2025
- Demand for care and support workers is projected to double by 2050
- The NDIS sector has the highest turnover rate in the Australian economy
- Up to a quarter of all NDIS workers will leave the sector, with over half wishing to leave within five years
The McKell Institute is a progressive research and public policy think-tank, which finalised its research report in February, has found that the high turnover rate associated with staff could be minimised through compensating staff who work on a dynamic or non-traditional basis.
Given the nature of how unique each disability is for the person living with it, along with the nature of the Scheme, which is supposed to give each person receiving care the choice and control over how much care they need — many disability support workers may work exclusively with NDIS participants through a digital service provider on a contractual basis.
For independent contractors or casual workers, they may lack many of the protections offered to part or full-time staff, such as sick days, paid public holidays, personal time off, long-service or annual leave.
The report suggests that proposed migration efforts in the 2021 – 2025 NDIS National Workforce Plan aren’t enough to keep existing staff in the sector — stating that there is a serious problem in retention, rather than growing interest from international labour markets, meaning that rolling back red tape on immigration is not a ‘quick fix.’
An early independent NDIS Review paper recommended that the Federal Government work with states and territories, in addition to the care and support sector, to design and trial a portable scheme for training as well as sick and carer’s leave.
ASU (NSW & ACT) Secretary Angus McFarland said it was reassuring to see these schemes recommended early in the review process.
“We have been strong advocates for a portable training and leave scheme and we fully support the Review’s recommendation,” Mr McFarland says.
“Disability support is increasingly being carried out by casual, gig work where employees are bouncing between employers, working full-time equivalent hours without the full-time benefits. Workers also have limited access to regular accredited training and career development opportunities.”
In the McKell report, similar schemes in Queensland, Victoria and the ACT offer workers in certain industries (such as construction) access to long-service leave.The Union would like to see this rolled out by 2025/2026 to support the existing workforce and the NDIS to cope with growing demand.
“We need solutions that will attract and retain workers now and for generations to come. Having access to training opportunities and leave entitlements no matter where or how an employee works would reward, upskill, support and secure the workforce,” says Mr McFarland.
“High turnover of staff leads to waste of precious NDIS funds and less reliable support to NDIS participants. Turnover is costly to taxpayers and service providers […] Hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities are relying on a dedicated, stable workforce. We need to invest in our workers to make the NDIS the best it can be.”
To read the McKell report or the NDIS review findings, please visit the links.