Last month, 300,000 community and disability workers lodged a claim with the Fair Work Commission seeking a pay rise of up to 35%.
Behind the claim are some confronting numbers. Nearly a third of workers report borrowing money from family to cover basics, and four in ten say they plan to leave the sector within a year. Turnover is running at five times the national average, while demand for these workers is projected to grow 23% by 2035.
Conversations like this always come back to money, and in our experience, money is the part of disability support that providers talk about least openly. Participants often can’t see how rates are set, what their funding actually buys, or how long their plan will last at their current level of support.
We think that’s backwards. That’s why our pricing is published on our website, along with a calculator anyone can use. You can plug in your support hours, see the rates, and work out what your plan covers before you ever speak to us.
Fair pay for workers and clear pricing for participants are part of the same idea.