The government continues to fail to recognise the dedication of frontline child safety workers and youth justice workers to caring for vulnerable Tasmanian children and young people.
Their inadequate emergency workforce plan does nothing to address the child safety staffing crisis statewide. These short-sighted money incentives put forward by Children and Youth Minister Roger Jaensch will only worsen staffing issues and further endanger the children and families they claim to protect.
Frontline child safety and youth workers have all been affected by excessive workloads and the trauma associated with this critical work.
Workers at Child Safety Services and Youth Justice across the state demand immediate, comprehensive and meaningful solutions to address the staffing crisis.
Hobart Child Safety and Youth Justice workers escalated their action will stopped work for four hours over the government’s insufficient workforce package that fails to address the severe staffing shortages. In a move that highlights the government’s disregard, just a few days after the stop work action in the north last month, Child Safety and Youth Justice workers who are not covered by the government’s workforce package saw impact days – a key entitlement they’ve been campaigning for – showing up on their Employee Self Service system, only to have these days revoked by the government. This cold-hearted move only fuels the ongoing campaign, as these workers fight for the basic recognition they deserve. The workforce package, recently introduced by Children and Youth Minister Roger Jaensch following the tragic death of a child in the north west, offers two $5,000 payments and a 15% market allowance – but only for a select few roles, leaving out crucial frontline workers such as child safety support workers, youth workers, unit coordinators, and some youth justice workers. These workers, who make sure that children and young people stay connected with their families, go to appointments and live stable lives while also enduring abuse and bearing the brunt of service failures, report mental anguish from being overlooked. “I don’t believe the government and minister know what we really do in a day and what our work means to the children and families that need support,” a worker said. For over 18 months, these workers have been waiting for a comprehensive Child Youth and Families agreement that covers everyone in the sector. The announcement of this insufficient package is seen as a step backward by workers and the union as it “not only divides the workforce but also exacerbates the staffing crisis that endangers the very children these workers are dedicated to protecting,” according to HACSU State Secretary Robbie Moore. “Members are not ruling out taking further action if the government continues to treat essential frontline workers with disregard,” Robbie Moore said. Watch media coverage of the 4 September 2024 industrial action in the video below.
Frontline child safety and youth justice workers continued their statewide industrial action in Launceston, with a one-hour stop work to protest the government’s inadequate response to the ongoing staffing crisis. Workers are expressing deep concern over what they describe as a "quick fix" approach that fails to address the root issues. HACSU Industrial Manager Lucas Digney stated, “The government is attempting to patch up a deep-seated problem by throwing money at it in a bid to deflect political criticism following a tragic loss of life. But these stopgap measures won’t resolve the severe staffing shortages that put Tasmanian children and young people at risk. Without adequate staffing, more tragedies are inevitable.” Watch some of the media coverage of the 21 August 2024 industrial action in the video below.
Frontline child safety workers and youth workers across Tasmania launched statewide industrial action with a one-hour stop work in the south on Wednesday 14 August condemning the government for their “plugging the hole” approach that has failed to fix the staffing crisis in any meaningful way.
After the recent tragic death of a child in the north west, which was believed to be an unactioned case due to staffing shortages, Children and Youth Minister Roger Jaensch introduced a deeply flawed emergency workforce plan. This plan includes two $5,000 payments for Child Safety Officers, Allied Health Professionals in Advice and Referral Line and Youth Justice only, and a 15% market allowance on top for the same roles in the north west.
Child safety support workers, youth workers, youth justice workers, unit coordinators, and other essential frontline workers are excluded from this plan, despite their vital roles in supporting at-risk children and families every day.
Workers warn the government’s piecemeal approach and failure to implement a comprehensive market allowance for all frontline child safety workers falls well short of ensuring services can operate efficiently by ignoring the critical recruitment and retention issues across the state.
Workers have made their ask clear: they want to see the payments and the personal impact days extended to all workers in child safety, and they need answers about when it will be paid and how it will be implemented.
More broadly, they also need to see an agreement that covers all of CYF and YJ and addresses the inconsistencies in their conditions and pay to remunerate them all fairly. At the core of it, this is about being able to keep workers around and recruit further staff so that they can continue to advocate and work with the people they help support in our communities. Watch some of the media coverage of the 14 August 2024 industrial action in the video below.
Support workers in Child Safety walked off the job demanding immediate action from the government to fix a broken system that has failed workers and put vulnerable children at risk. Support workers are on the frontline of the state’s Child Safety Services, ensuring that children and young people can visit their families, go to appointments, and live stable and happy lives. However, due to chronic underfunding, understaffing, poor working conditions and low pay – with many barely earning above the minimum wage – workers are pushed to the breaking point, and the consequences are dire: essential services for at-risk children and their families are hanging by a thread. Despite the government's promises of negotiations for improved conditions and a solid recruitment and retention strategy for over 18 months, as well as promises of reclassification and pay rises for seven weeks, workers haven’t seen a single change. The strain from the government’s repeated broken promises has left workers disillusioned and forced many to consider leaving the industry. Watch some of the media coverage of the 1 May 2024 industrial action in the video below.