The interim decision of Fair Work Australia in May, needs the Commonwealth and all other governments to commit to fully funding their share of the outcome of the case if we are to achieve national parity.

In Victoria, there are ‘Community Service Organisations’, non-government service providers, and government, Department of Human Services, direct care services for people with an intellectual or multiple disability living in supported accommodation group homes, or similar.

It has been traditional for many years that CSO workers are paid less than the DHS workers doing almost identical work. “Why is this so?”

We suggest this has occurred, not because of an initially strong union for DHS workers, but because they became strong as a direct result of captive market DHS management with government money to keep their staff content, whilst short funding the CSOs.

Fair Work Australia should ensure all direct care staff in supported accommodation group homes, government and non-government, are paid equally.

LISA Inc has no reservations in respect to direct care staff being well paid and well trained. The reservation being, that of work valve expectation being set, monitored and maintained to ensure the residents of these group homes receive real quality of life care in their home - not minder care in a staff workplace.

Work value expectations fail to occur in government direct care services, as traditional public service culture seriously limits the ability of management to man-manage direct care staff lore to ensure services are with the direction, intention and spirit of recognised care policies, standards and values.