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Children’s disability workers are set to lose their jobs a year before the new Thriving Kids disability program even starts, as providers struggle to get clarity around changes to the NDIS.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) is set to axe up to 45 of its early childhood coordinator roles, which are currently funded under a contract with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, as it transitions to a greater focus on adult disability services.
Overhauls to rein in NDIS spending will remove about 300,000 people from the federally funded scheme, including autistic children aged eight and under, who will be transitioned off the NDIS and onto the state-funded Thriving Kids program during 2027.
While the BSL coordinators’ funding is not directly tied to the services to be cut from the NDIS, their loss means the number of specialist children’s disability workers in the Victorian sector will be reduced before the state-funded replacement programs can be rolled out.
In a consultation presentation delivered to staff last week and seen by The Age, BSL managers outlined plans to cut NDIS-funded early childhood positions to allow for an increased focus on delivering adult programs.
The proposed cuts include 12 early childhood coordinators in the bayside peninsula region, 16 in the north and another 12 in the west.
“These contract settings differ from earlier assumptions and have resulted in a mismatch between funded activity and the number of Early Childhood Coordinator (ECC) roles currently in place,” the BSL presentation states.
“Maintaining ECC roles at the current scale is not sustainable within existing funding and presents ongoing financial and operational costs.”
BSL is a contracted NDIS partner in the community, which means it receives block funding every two years to act as a front door for new Melbourne clients entering the disability scheme. It splits the funding to provide both adult and childhood focused services, based on projected demands.
Although its current funding was negotiated a year ago and extends to July next year without any reduction, BSL chief services officer Julie Ware said there was now a greater demand for the charity’s adult services than its childhood programs, prompting a rebalancing of its workforce.
Ware said the job losses were not connected to the NDIS overhauls, although she hoped to gain greater clarity about the transition to Thriving Kids to know what the needs of the future workforce would be.
She said the cuts were still being negotiated and might include redundancies as well as redeployment into other areas, while families could seek NDIS services from other contractors.
“We’re in constant communication with state and federal governments about the NDIS reforms, including what Thriving Kids could look like, so we can plan properly and make sure we’re still meeting the needs of the communities who rely on our support,” she said.
“There’s real anxiety for people with disability, their families and the workforce right now. We hear that every day, and it’s something we take seriously.
“In relation to our partners in the community contract with the NDIA, we’re talking with staff and supporting them through the process of these proposed changes. I want to stress that, at this stage, no final decisions have been made.
“Our aim, of course, would be to keep as many people as we can and then redeploy, and then have our team ready to move into other roles within BSL or as part of Thriving Kids. That’s absolutely what we would want.”
Australian Services Union Victorian acting branch secretary Zoe Edwards slammed the childhood disability cuts, as well as a five-day feedback period for the impacted BSL staff.
“It is inexcusable to lay off 45 staff in the early childhood workforce. These NDIA workers provide a vital community service every day. To fire them during a cost-of-living crisis is no way to repay that service,” Edwards said.
“Slashing the number of bachelor-qualified Early Childhood Coordinators will directly damage the quality and delivery of early learning supports.
“Workers are being caught in an uncoordinated funding crossfire between shifting NDIA contract extensions and future scheme designs like Thriving Kids.
“Rushing to sack highly skilled professionals to meet short-term contract volumes is incredibly short-sighted and will ultimately leave vulnerable children and families in the lurch.”
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