Disability Support Workers

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:55): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney-General, in his capacity as Minister for Industrial Relations, a question about disability sector support workers.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Disability support officers employed by DHS have been earning less than the federal award minimum wage rate of pay, despite the state government receiving federal funding for wages at higher rates of pay through the NDIS. A certificate III qualified disability services officer today earns $222.50 less than the equivalent lowest paid worker.

Hundreds of members of the United Workers Union, which has already been referenced, have provided responses to a survey outlining how persistent low wages and the cost-of-living crisis are currently affecting them. It paints a dire picture, where South Australian public servants are unable to afford even the most basic necessities on their current wage.

In DHS, there has been a 20 per cent reduction in full-time equivalent staffing levels as workers leave the sector, with 19 per cent of new disability support officers recruited between 1 July 2023 and 2 December 2024 already having resigned. My questions to the minister are:

1. How does the minister justify the government retaining more than 20 per cent of the federal funding it receives by the NDIS specifically for disability services officers' wages and not passing this on to workers supporting some of the most complex people living with disabilities in our state?

2. What commitment is the government making to address this and back pay those workers since the disparity emerged?

3. When did the disparity emerge?

4. Does the minister acknowledge that even with the 20 per cent issue being addressed those workers will still remain amongst the lowest paid workers in the nation?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:57): I thank the member for her question. I don't have the date of that federal wage case in the federal system for the federal award. They are, of course, different systems, federal and state industrial relations systems. However—and I think it was mentioned in the function that was held during the lunch break today in the Balcony Room—one thing that we have committed to at this stage in the negotiations that we are up to, should we come to an agreement, is remedying that, to make sure that in the state public system we are looking to pay the wages in the future that are reflected in the federal system. Although they are different systems, that is something we are looking to remedy in this round of enterprise bargaining.