Friday 11 September 2026
The Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association of WA (CPSU/CSA) condemns the Cook Labor Government’s decision, revealed to SCL employees in a snap meeting yesterday afternoon, to withdraw from the direct provision of disability services by privatising remaining disability group homes. This decision will end more than 50 years of public service delivery through Supported Community Living (SCL).
Delivering this devastating news to employees on R U OK Day speaks to the disrespect and disregard shown to this workforce.
This outcome means that after decades of building trusted relationships, expertise and continuity, social trainers will no longer provide direct care to some of the most vulnerable people in the Western Australian community. At a time when Government should be stepping up and doing more to support vulnerable people, it has chosen to step away from the service that provides this care.
Supporting people with complex disabilities requires decades of relationship-building, trust and continuity. Those bonds cannot simply be transferred to a private provider without causing distress and disruption for residents, their families and the workers who know and support them.
This decision, revealed to the union by Minister for Disability Services, Hon Hannah Beazley MLA, will force significant change on ninety-five residents with complex disabilities, while plunging the futures of more than 400 workers who support them into insecurity and uncertainty. The families of both these cohorts who rely on the stability of Government services for quality of life will also suffer uncertainty and stress that could have been avoided.
The Cook Labor Government has made this decision knowing the impact it will have on staff, residents and families, after months of consultation in which workers repeatedly warned of the harm privatisation would cause.
CPSU/CSA Branch Secretary and former Disability Services Commission Client Assistant, Melanie Bray, says the Government’s decision is a deliberate act of privatisation, not an unavoidable consequence of the service’s decline.
Statements attributable to Melanie Bray, Branch Secretary, CPSU/CSA:
“This is a devastating decision for residents, their families and the workers who have spent years, and in many cases decades, supporting them.
“If the Government now says other NDIS providers can offer services or supports that SCL cannot, it needs to answer for the decisions that brought us to this point. For nine years, the WA Labor Government has refused new residents and allowed its own service to contract.
"This Government is choosing to walk away from responsibility for providing a complex and resource-intensive public service after spending years allowing that service to decline.
“The way this process has been handled has caused enormous and unnecessary distress. Our members have spent months worrying about their jobs, the residents they care for and what will happen to those relationships. The Department and Minister knew the level of anxiety this process was causing, yet workers were repeatedly left waiting for answers about their futures.
“Our immediate priority is our members and the more than 400 workers now having to make decisions about their futures. CPSU/CSA will work with our Delegates and members throughout this process to protect their rights, secure the best possible outcomes and hold the Government accountable for the consequences of this decision.
“Four hundred workers are now left worrying about what comes next for the clients they have family-like bonds with, while facing uncertainty about their own jobs, mortgages and ability to put food on the table. Our union will rally around and fight for these workers.”
ENDS
● The CPSU/CSA covers 44,000 general public sector workers, one-quarter of the WA public sector, including child protection officers, youth custodial officers, park rangers, veterinary scientists and dental technicians.
● Note to Journalists: Please ensure the full acronym, “CPSU/CSA” when mentioning us. “CPSU” is typically used to refer to the Union that covers Commonwealth, ACT and NT public sector workers. We are related but separate organisations.
For more information or to arrange further comment from CPSU/CSA Branch Secretary Melanie Bray:
Megan Klymiuk
CPSU/CSA Coordinator Communications and Engagement
M: 0421 934 794 E: [email protected]
