COMMUNITY SERVICES

Community Services performs among the most crucial of NSW public services, protecting the state's most vulnerable children and young people. As such, our members employed in Community Services deserve the highest levels of industrial support from their union.

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Achievements:

 

Under the Rank & File team's leadership, the PSA has improved wages and conditions for members in Community Services.

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• We won the campaign to abolish the wages cap.

• Child Protection Workers Grade 3 received a grading uplift.

• A new Child Protection Employees Award 

• The PSA is fighting on behalf of Community Services Admin staff.

• Acknowledgement of the cultural load of the Aboriginal Caseworker role.

• We were instumental in taking on the previous leadership, improving accountability and reforming a toxic workplace culture. 

• ​​​Additional PSA industrial and organising staff committed to Community Services.  This is evidenced by increases in information to members by way of Bulletins, increase in matters taken to the Industrial Relations Commission on behalf of Community Services Members. ​​

• Greater support for the Community Services Departmental Committee.

• Introduced the “Child Protection in Crisis” campaign which highlighted the important role played by Community Services members and raised the serious concerns of retention and recruitment as well as excessive workload.

• Worked with members to support local workplace action across the State through lunchtime walkouts and a half day strike action as part of the Child Protection in Crisis campaign.

• This has led to the Government agreeing that a Child Protection Workforce Award is needed to support the specific needs of the field.

• Developed working relationships with the Minister and Opposition Shadow for Community Services.

• Advocated that the Department must do more for caseworkers experiencing secondary and vicarious trauma which led to the Wellbeing Strategy and Wellbeing Checks.

• Establishment of Working Party to create a user friendly Workload Planner

• Conversion of caseworkers and agreement from DCJ that long term temporaries who are converted do not need to be placed on probation for another 12 months.

• Assisted members to access entitlements under the Award after the employer initially denied the entitlement – this ranges from travel allowances to part-time work and transition to retirement plans.

• Held the Department to account that it must abide by its obligations to enter into genuine and meaningful consultation about matters of mutual interest and concern.

• Raised awareness about the Department’s legislative obligations to ensure a safe workplace.

• Attended meetings of the Accommodation Working Group to argue the case for office fitouts which comply with WHS obligations.

• Imposed bans when DCJ attempted to introduce timed toilet breaks at the Helpline

 

 

The Rank & File team commits to:

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• Opposing any further cuts in child protection services and any move towards more privatisation

• Working with delegates to expand the Wellbeing Strategy so that DCJ takes responsibility for staff experiencing secondary and vicarious trauma as a result of the challenging work they do.

• Fighting to reverse efficiency dividends being imposed on child protection services.

• Work with Aboriginal caseworkers to advocate for improved services, training and development opportunities.

• Advocate for better incentives for staff to work in rural and remote areas.

• Continue to promote Departmental obligations in regard to flextime and flexible working

• Push for accountability within the privatised Out of Home Care (OOHC) system to reduce the waste of Public Funds​

• Lead a political, community and industrial campaign to highlight the systematic failure to adequately resource Community Services​

• Develop strong public campaigns that highlight the chaos, unrelenting corporate change and insurmountable barriers that are preventing the delivery of quality child protection services to the vulnerable children and young people of NSW​

• Provide adequate industrial resources in the area, including industrial staff assigned to and charged with responsibility for the Community Services portfolio​

• Ensure the District Organiser role to one that is member focused to ensure that Community Services delegates and members are appropriately supported

 

The Rank & File team ensures that every day our union is fighting for members who do so much for children and families in crisis. 

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Five of our Rank & File candidates in the 2025 PSA election work in Community Services, so we understand the issues and challenges you face every day at work.