Tuesday 21 July 2026

Contact 1800 772 679

Contact 1800 772 679

The magazine of the Public Service Association of NSW and the Community and Public Sector Union (NSW Branch)

PSA responds to Goward column

PSA responds to Goward column

Stewart Little points out columnist’s form as minister.

Public Service Association (PSA) Genereal Secretary Stewart Little has replied to a column by former Community Services Minister Pru Goward.

Ms Goward had penned a column in the Australian Financial Review blaming the State Government’s relationship with unions for what she perceived as problems with the Child Protection system.

Mr Little replied to the column with a letter than led the letters coloumn for 20 July 2026.

“During Goward'”‘s tenure, her department faced sustained criticism over child protection staffing, including disputes about unfilled caseworker posi­tions and accusations that she had misrepresented staffing levels to parliament,” wrote Mr Little. “The con­troversy became so serious that changes to the parliamentary Hansard record were publicly scrutinised.

:That history makes it extra­ordinary for Goward to now present herself as an unblem­ished authority on child protection.”

The letter went on to praise the union’s members in what Mr Little.

“Competitive wages are not a luxury,” he wrote. “They are how governments recruit and retain experienced caseworkers in one of the most emotionally demanding jobs in the public sector.”

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