Health and Community Services Union

In the 2007 Mental Health EBA, HACSU won agreement to allow members of the old State Public Service Superannuation Schemes to make their contributions before tax is deducted; thus providing members with a tax saving and increasing take home pay. This applies to SERBS, Revised Scheme and the New Scheme which are managed by the Emergency Services & State Super Fund (ESSSuper).

The State Minister for Finance has now signed the declarations to allow members of the schemes and who are covered by the Psychiatric Services Agreement and the Forensicare Agreement to commence salary sacrifice contributions.

Members wanting to take advantage of salary sacrificing contributions into these schemes need to make the arrangements through their service HR/Payroll Department.

Early bird registrations for the 11th Victorian Collaborative Psychiatric Nursing Conference to be held at Moonee Valley Racecourse on the 12th & 13th August 2010

Close on Friday 29th May 2010

Please find attached the registration form.

Conference website is at http://www.cpn.unimelb.edu.au/conferences/vcpnc2009

The 2010-11 State Budget released on May 5, saw two big wins for HACSU members. The budget contained $56 million to fund 42 new acute beds for Bendigo’s Mental Health Service. This is a significant investment by the government and follows years of lobbying and activism by the Union Office and HACSU delegates and members.

The Government, through the budget, also committed $14.2 million to build a 22 bed community care unit at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital to be operated by Austin Health. Again, this is a development that members have been campaigning for over several years. All metropolitan health services now have a CCU.

These two announcements have been key items in HACSU budget submissions.

This subject is offered in collaboration with clinical agencies to provide psychiatric/mental health nurses and other health professionals, with the skills and knowledge to provide student supervision in the workplace. The content will include models of supervision; theoretical perspectives of teaching and learning, the nature of the preceptor-preceptee relationship; curriculum issues in psychiatric nursing education, including content and competency-based education; learning outcomes and assessment; and the process of organisational change.