The Health Services Union has condemned the Victorian Government's plan to abolish specialist disability regulators and merge them into a single super-regulator, warning the move will leave vulnerable people with disability exposed to exploitation and abuse.
Legislation before the Legislative Council would scrap the Disability Services Commissioner, the Victorian Disability Worker Commission, and the Disability Worker Registration Board, rolling them into the already overstretched Social Services Regulator (SSR).
HSU National Secretary Lloyd Williams said the government was dismantling critical safeguards when it is clear stronger oversight is needed.
"Recent reports have exposed shocking cases in the disability sector – yet the government's response is to weaken the very regulators designed to prevent this abuse," Mr Williams said.
"We are seeing cases where exploitation was detected but the Social Services Regulator stated it was 'outside the scope' of its authority. The SSR is already failing, why would we give it even more responsibility?
"People with disability deserve specialist regulators who understand their unique vulnerabilities and can provide laser focused oversight. Diluting this into a generic super-regulator overseeing everything from childcare to homelessness services is a recipe for disaster."
The proposed merger contradicts recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission, which called for a specialist 'one-stop-shop' complaint reporting body specifically for people with disability.
Advocacy groups have warned that people with disability who have built trust with existing specialist regulators will not reach out to a monolithic organisation in times of crisis.
Mr Williams said the government had attempted to ram the changes through by including it in child protection legislation.
"Any suggestion that voting against this package means voting against child safety is dishonest and cynical," he said.
"You can support strong child protection measures without gutting disability safeguards. These are not mutually exclusive.
"If the government genuinely cares about safety, it should be strengthening specialist oversight, not abolishing it."
The HSU is calling on the Legislative Council to reject the merger and instead move to mandate the Disability Worker Registration Scheme (DWRS).
"Rather than scrapping watchdogs, the government should be mandating the worker registration scheme to ensure proper registration and oversight," Mr Williams said.
"This government claims to care about vulnerable Victorians, but these changes show it's more interested in administrative convenience than genuine protection.
"We stand with HACSU [HSU Victorian No. 2 Branch] members and disability advocacy groups in opposing this dangerous retreat from specialist safeguards."
Contact details:
Matt Coughlan 0400 561 480 / [email protected]