Health and Community Services Union

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.

During April, a series of regional meetings where held to vote to make official the Union Collective Agreement that HACSU members won in 2008.

The meetings had a decent turnout and the Agreement has received a resounding 'yes' vote.

It’s great to see such support for the agreement. Over the last ten years the wages and conditions of Disability Support Workers have improve immeasurably. And that is all thanks to the hard work of HACSU members on the campaign trail.

Once again, well done to all.

The agreement will be taken to Fair Work Australia for certification, at which point it all becomes official. 

HACSU has launched a new campaign website for the Respect in Disability Campaign members are currently running in support of Disability Support Workers in the Non-Government Sector.

The site will keep members and the general public up to date with the campaign, allow potential members to join up and lists which employers have passed on the pay increase they have been funded for, and which haven't.

The site also allows you to sign a pledge to join HACSU members at the National Day of Action on Thursday 10th June.

The new site can be found here: www.respectindisability.org.au.

Please tell your friends and colleagues about the site and visit it regularly to keep up to date with the campaign.