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To: Politicians

Save the Victorian Disability Sector

Health and Community Services Union
Dear Community Members,

My name is Antony and I'm a Victorian Disability Support Worker. I’ve proudly been a member of the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) for 27 years.

I’m writing to you not just as a union member, but as someone who cares deeply about the future of our disability sector in Victoria. Right now, that future is under serious threat.

Eight years ago, after the Victorian Government privatised Supported Independent Living (SIL) services, it stepped in with a $2.1 billion subsidy to protect the wages and conditions that HACSU members had fought for over decades. That funding runs out on December 31, 2025—and without urgent action, we’re facing a disaster.

Over 7,500 disability support workers could lose more than a third of their wages. 580 group homes could close. Nearly 5,000 participants—real people, with real lives—could lose the care and stability they rely on every single day.

This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about people being forced out of their homes, workers who have cared for them for years being made redundant, and families being left with nowhere to turn.

And it’s about losing something we’ve all worked so hard to build: the Victorian gold standard.

This standard is something all Victorians should be proud of. It means:

  • Mandatory training for every support worker
  • Safe staffing ratios
  • A clear career path for workers
  • Quality care that puts people first
Without proper funding, these safeguards—and the dignity and stability they provide—will disappear.

Participants are already being treated like numbers in a broken market. The system is failing them. Providers are closing homes, slashing services, and walking away—not because they want to, but because the funding model is simply unsustainable.

We cannot let this continue.

We are calling on:

The Federal Government to:

  1. Introduce a $900 million workforce compact for registered providers of SIL who wish to bargain to protect wages and conditions of disability support workers in SIL.
  2. Transition NDIS funding to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) and restore block funding
  3. Implement mandatory registration and training for the disability workforce
The State Government to:

  1. Extend the current subsidy until the federal government steps up
  2. Acknowledge that they are the provider of last resort and that they have an obligation to provide certainty to Victorian participants, families and disability support workers in SIL. 
This campaign is about more than policy. It’s about dignity, fairness, and community. It’s about standing up for the people who rely on this system—and for the workers who hold it together.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Sign our petitions
  • Contact your local MPs
  • Attend community meetings and advocacy events
  • Share this message with your friends, families, and networks
Your voice matters. Together, we can protect the Victorian gold standard and ensure no one is left behind.

Thank you for standing with us.

In solidarity,
Antony

Why is this important?

At its heart, this campaign is about ensuring that people with disabilities—some of the most vulnerable members of our community—continue to receive the care, safety, and support they need and deserve. Without sustainable funding and clear action from governments, thousands of Victorians risk losing access to essential, life-changing services.

The current funding shortfall threatens to:

  • Slash wages for over 7,500 workers by more than a third
  • Significantly reduce the 5 main providers of group homes ability to operate approximately 580 group homes
  • Displace even more participants from their homes
  • Undermine quality and safety standards that have been built over decades
This is not a distant issue—it’s a looming crisis that will affect families, workers, and participants alike if action isn’t taken urgently.

Victoria’s disability support sector sets the benchmark for the nation in terms of:

  • Staff training
  • Career progression
  • Staffing ratios
  • Safety standards
These are hard-won protections built through decades of union advocacy. Without continued investment and a proper funding model, these standards could be lost—taking the sector backwards.

Disability support workers play a critical role in the lives of participants, yet they now face:

  • Massive wage cuts
  • Job losses
  • A devaluing of their profession
By campaigning for fair wages and strong employment conditions, you're standing up for the workforce that holds this system together.

This campaign is about demanding that:

  • The Federal Government fixes the broken NDIS pricing model
  • The State Government continues support until a long-term federal solution is in place
  • Both levels of government take responsibility for the sustainability of disability services
It’s a call to put people over profits, and policy over politics.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to live with dignity, independence, and support. Your campaign represents the broader fight for:
Equity in access to care
  • Fair treatment of workers
  • A compassionate, well-funded public service model
This isn’t just a disability sector issue—it’s a community issue.

When we unite, we win.

By joining, people are not just supporting a cause—they’re becoming part of a powerful movement for justice, fairness, and sustainability in disability care.

Partner

Updates

2026-05-21 11:39:29 +1000

Campaign Update 1/6
The Victorian SIL crisis is reaching a turning point

This campaign has never been solely about wages and conditions. It is about protecting the right of people with disability to live fulfilling, dignified, safe, and connected lives, connected to community and ensuring families can have confidence that the support their loved ones rely on will continue to exist into the future. It is also about ensuring disability support workers are properly valued, trained, and supported to deliver the high-quality care participants deserve.

https://youtube.com/shorts/9vIbiqkEOiI?si=Vz8CLSy4vE2eBOCa

2026-05-21 11:39:00 +1000

Update 2/6
Since this campaign began, there have been significant developments across Victoria’s Supported Independent Living sector.

The subsidy was removed by the Victorian State government on the 31st December 2025. Since then, HACSU in partnership with the disability membership commenced bargaining separate agreements for the 5 transferred providers.

Major providers continue to face enormous financial pressure under the current NDIS pricing model. Some have begun shutting houses, selling buses, reducing services, and restructuring parts of its operations as providers struggle to maintain services under an increasingly unsustainable system.

2026-05-21 11:37:26 +1000

Update 3/6
What this proves is that the current market-driven model is not delivering the stability that participants, families, and workers were promised.

We now need governments to move beyond short-term crisis management and start rebuilding a sustainable disability support system for the future.

That starts with restoring block funding for Supported Independent Living (SIL) services and day programs.

Disability support cannot continue operating under a system where providers are forced to fight for survival house by house, shift by shift, while participants live with constant uncertainty about whether their home or program will still exist in the future.

Block funding would provide stability, continuity of care, workforce security, and long-term planning allowing providers to focus on quality support instead of financial survival.

2026-05-21 11:36:45 +1000

Update 4/6
We also urgently need proper funding for frontline leadership roles, including House Supervisors and senior support positions.

These workers are the backbone of safe, high-quality disability services. They coordinate care, mentor staff, manage risk, support participants and families, and hold services together during increasingly difficult conditions.

Yet too often, these critical leadership roles are underfunded, undervalued, or stretched beyond capacity.

If governments are serious about improving quality and safeguarding participants, they must invest in the people responsible for leading frontline services every day.

Victoria also has an opportunity to lead the nation again by introducing a trial of mandatory registration and mandatory minimum training standards for disability support workers.

Victoria already set the benchmark for disability support before privatisation. We can do it again.

2026-05-21 11:36:14 +1000

Update 5/6
Participants deserve to know that every worker entering their home has the skills, training, and accountability needed to provide safe and professional support.

Workers deserve recognition as skilled professionals with clear career pathways and proper standards across the sector.

Mandatory registration and training would help:

Improve participant safety

Lift workforce standards

Strengthen professional accountability

Support workforce retention and career development

Rebuild community confidence in disability services

We remain committed to the idea that there must be a Federally backed $900M workforce compact introduced for SIL services, the introduction of independent pricing for disability services and the State must retain their stake in the Victorian disability sector by way of funding and accepting their role as the provider of last resort.

2026-05-21 11:35:44 +1000

Update 6/6
Disability support is skilled work. It should be treated that way.

The challenges facing the sector are serious, but the solutions are there if governments are willing to act.

Now governments must take the next step and commit to rebuilding a disability support system based on stability, quality care, professional standards, and long-term sustainability, not crisis management and market failure.

HACSU will continue to campaign on these incredibly important issues until we get it done.

In solidarity,

Antony

Victorian Disability Support Worker

Proud HACSU member for 28 years

2026-02-12 14:53:29 +1100

https://youtu.be/ctMGVkQWJF0?si=w3brwIa-Je8SsRII

Please help us save our sector

2025-10-08 22:58:16 +1100

1,000 signatures reached

2025-09-04 21:34:03 +1000

500 signatures reached

2025-08-27 17:55:36 +1000

100 signatures reached

2025-08-26 19:59:36 +1000

50 signatures reached

2025-08-26 06:24:07 +1000

25 signatures reached

2025-08-25 20:33:36 +1000

10 signatures reached