In recent months the PSA CPSU NSW has been spreading its message far and wide that outsourcing Child Protection services has not just failed some of the most vulnerable children in the state, it has also failed the taxpayer. 

We’ve seen stories of cost blowouts, with one child in particular costing as much as $3 million.

This system has come under severe criticism in a report from the Auditor General (see page 9), while a report from the NSW Legislative Council’s Public Accountability and Works Committee (see page 3) also trained its sights on another outsourcing failure, the overuse of overpriced, unaccountable consultants.

Both these reports echo what the PSA has been telling the state for years: privatisation hurts everyone.

The privatisation mantra really hit its straps in the 1980s. Services once delivered by the state were sold off and the private sector invited to provide services.

This was sold to the public as better, cheaper and more accountable. According to this logic, the free market delivered the world burgers and washing powder, so it could easily run airlines, deliver the post and look after children in crisis, too.

Here, in NSW, your union went to voters at the 2023 state election with a clear message: privatisation has failed us all.

Voters saw their bills increase and realised they were paying a fortune in road tolls. They saw candidates happily say they’d privatise the services that provided their water.

The Minns Government must continue to honour this wish and oppose sell-offs.