A decision to reject a funding increase to cover leave entitlements for community sector staff in the ACT will widen the gap between the predominantly female workforce and the public service, a union says.
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Members of the Australian Services Union will stage a protest at ACT Labor's annual conference on Saturday morning, calling on the ACT government to close the gap in entitlements.
The union said the ACT government had rejected a funding request to improve entitlements for community sector staff.
The union's NSW and ACT secretary, Angus McFarland, said the territory government needed to come to the table to negotiate in good faith with community sector workers.
"Community services workers are on the front line each day working to improve the lives of people who've experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, drug dependence, and homelessness. The work they do eases untold pressure on the ACT's health and judicial systems," Mr McFarland said.
"Yet the ACT government is turning a blind eye to the remarkable contribution of essential workers, denying them modest improvements to their leave and superannuation entitlements."
Mr McFarland last week wrote to Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Community Services Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith to call for the government to reconsider its decision not to increase funding by 4.5 per cent to cover additional entitlements.
The union said the in principle agreement for a new multiple enterprise agreement covering government-funded community services in the ACT included 14 weeks of paid parental leave compared to 18 weeks for ACT government staff.
The current agreement does not include paid parental leave for community sector staff, 10 fewer days of family and domestic violence leave and the minimum legally required superannuation amount.
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The agreement covers staff working for 18 community services in the ACT, including Toora Women, the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre and Women's Health Matters. The union said 80 per cent of staff covered by the agreement were women.
An ACT government spokeswoman said the territory was not a party to the agreement but the territory funded the community sector organisations, and had invested $395,000 in the 2022-23 mid-year budget review to improve funding for the sector.
"The ACT government acknowledges that the broader community sector has been calling for government funding to better reflect the true cost of service delivery, including good pay and conditions for community sector workers," the spokeswoman said.
"The government is also shifting to a commissioning for outcomes procurement model, working collaboratively with community sector organisations to identify the true cost of service delivery on a sector by sector basis."
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
