In July this year the State Government offered a new Award for NSW Child Protection workers. The union put the offer to membership, and the response was swift. An overwhelming majority – 90 per cent – of members endorsed the making of a new standalone Child Protection Award.

The new Award is the result of months of campaigning and negotiations which led to the recently announced $1.2 billion Child Protection package from the NSW government. The campaign, led by the PSA, alongside Delegates in Child Protection, has been a long and hard-fought push. But one that was essential for the members; but also, importantly, for the communities they look after.

Stewart Little General Secretary of the PSA (pictured at a press conference with Community Services members) said “the previous Liberal-National Government had run NSW’s Child Protection agencies down to the nub”.

“Our members have been punished for being dedicated to the work they do, and for their deep concern for the communities” he said. “Their colleagues have been leaving the department, not being replaced, and the previous government took advantage of our members’ dedication, knowing they can leave roles vacant, because these officers won’t abandon their clients,”

In April 2024, PSA Delegates unanimously endorsed a union campaign to fix the broken Child Protection system. In launching the Child Protection in Crisis campaign, Mr Little said the union would commence a series of rolling campaign events across NSW. This is amid concern the state’s Child Protection system was on the brink of collapse, with vulnerable children being put at unacceptable risk due to underfunding and staff burnout.

“The Government knows Community Services is experiencing an unprecedented attraction-and-retention crisis, with one in four positions unfilled in some regions of the state. That’s according to the Department’s own figures,” Mr Little said. “The most vulnerable kids in this state are at risk of serious harm, or worse, because Child Protection Workers just can’t cope, they’re understaffed, exhausted and see no other option than to take action.”

After months on public campaigning, with generous media coverage – much of it featuring PSA members speaking out – the Minns government had to act. “The government didn’t create this problem, but it’s their job to fix it,” said PSA Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright.

Part of the $1.2 Billion Child Protection Package from the NSW government (see page opposite) includes this new Award. The PSA and Department of Communities and Justice have taken steps to draft and lodge the new Award in the Industrial Relations Commission. Members received an immediate 3 per cent pay rise from their first full pay period after 1 July 2025. Work also began on the salary transition and advancement of increments.

The PSA has also continued to campaign with the department for Child Protection workers across the state. The union has begun negotiating on the matters that are still unresolved, such as the allocation and duties of administrative roles and their current classifications. There will also be an education campaign around the new overtime provisions, and how they will provide for a greater work life balance, or at least pay for those extra hours PSA members work.

“The outcome of all this hard work done by the PSA has proven that union activism works,” said Mr Wright. “Our actions have resulted in the NSW Government finally putting Child Protection front and centre, and directly resulted in the current NSW Government making the largest ever investment in child protection and out-of-home care in the state’s history.

“We at the PSA would like to particularly thank all the amazing Delegates, past and current, for their tireless dedication and incredible passion for affecting change not only for workers, but vulnerable children across NSW.”