Stage One protected action started on 3 August. Since then, union members across Child Safety and Youth Justice have been taking action at work, sending a clear message that the current offer doesn't cut it.
The departments have had that message for two weeks now. At the last two Single Bargaining Unit meetings, they've had every chance to respond. They haven't moved.
The departments confirmed their offer remains open until 31 August. Nothing new. Meanwhile, the same problems members have been raising for months went unresolved:
TOIL keeps piling up for Team Leaders and Managers, and the department still won't commit to paying it out.
Vacancy numbers stay high across Child Safety and Youth Justice, while temporary staff hold down permanent positions with no pathway to conversion.
Cultural safety incidents aren't even being properly tracked, and the department could not explain how the current offer strengthens cultural safety commitments.
On Claim 15, paid cultural supervision, the DYJVS's answer was to move it to a the first nations council instead of dealing with it at the bargaining table, and locking in committments in the EB
At that same meeting, Together tabled a paper on retention and continuance allowances. It laid out something the department already knows: Adoption Officers were promised the Child Safety Continuance Allowance in the last agreement round, and it was dropped from the final drafting by administrative error, not by decision.
Youth Justice and Child Safety roles are genuinely struggling to retain staff, and your union asked for the allowances to reflect that reality.
This meeting was really short. On Claim 24 - expanding the retention and continuance allowances to the roles that need them - was rejected. Not by one department. By both. This is the same claim that includes fixing the Adoption Officer error. The answer was no.
Stage One was meant to show the departments that members are serious. It has. What it hasn't done is get either department to move on the issues that matter most: workload, vacancies, cultural safety, and now, allowances for retention.
From Monday 17 August, your steering committee delegates have approved, and your union office has notified the departments that members are stepping up with a new round of protected action bans, on top of everything already in place since 29 July.
From that day, members covered by the notice will not be:
Doing logbook and fuel reconciliation.
Completing Additional Child Care Subsidy Letters.
Monitoring monthly financial records, including VAT reporting.
Responding to Ministerial requests, including MINCOR complaints.
Writing or contributing to briefing notes.
Attending internal meetings, events or briefings, in person, by video or by phone.
Responding to requests for data and insights.
Closing or accepting closure of incidents in Service Now.
Completing Unify forms for Case Plans, PSNAs or CSNAs.
Completing or reviewing Service Response Plans, CHART or ERIC.
Submitting or completing PCR forms.
One thing that doesn't change: the safety of children and young people. The bans on Unify/PSNA/CSNA forms, Service Response Plans, and PCR forms don't apply where a child or young person is in immediate danger, or in an emergent situation as the you see it.