CPSU ACT secretary Maddy Northam has accused the ACT Government of ending contracts within Housing ACT six months earlier than originally planned. Photo: Region.
Housing ACT labour-hire contractors are worried they’ll soon become clients of the service after the ACT Government allegedly cut their contracts six months short.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is holding meetings with Housing ACT members this week after contractors were told that a majority of jobs would cease on 31 December.
Due to the government shutdown, the effective end date is Christmas Eve.
CPSU ACT secretary Maddy Northam said many workers had initially been told they’d have work until June 2026.
“They got told, only a few weeks before Christmas, that they won’t have work after Christmas,” she said.
“Some have new babies, it’s incredibly distressing … Our members are anticipating that [if this goes ahead] they’ll become clients of Housing ACT themselves.”
The ACT Government has committed to reducing its reliance on external contractors, something the CPSU has been campaigning for.
But Ms Northam said they didn’t want workers losing their jobs like this.
“It seems like a situation of ‘try before you buy’, which is incredibly disappointing from a Labor Government,” she said.
“There should have been moves to make them permanent public servants, not cutting jobs [effectively] on Christmas Eve.”
Workers impacted include both external contractors and those on temporary government contracts, some of which are still ending after Christmas.
A person with knowledge of the situation, who asked to remain anonymous, said most of the workers who had been assigned higher-duty roles would also be pulled back to nominal duties.
“This alone will have a major impact on operations in the workplace,” they said.
“Most of these cuts are coming from within [the] tenancy management team, the application assessing team and the house allocations team.
“These teams are all currently under significant work load as is … [this decision] will have a significant impact on how [Housing ACT’s] ability to assess, house and manage vulnerable Canberrans.
“The impact this will have on the public will be huge. The executives are kidding themselves if they think otherwise. They are playing with people’s lives.”
The person said this would result in longer public housing wait times, houses sitting vacant for longer periods and higher maintenance costs.
Ms Northam said all this begged the question about who would pick up the work.
“If the government is slashing labour hire, temporary contracts, and not hiring permanent staff, are they just kicking the can down the road?
“The government should not be cutting Housing ACT.”
Workforce reductions in Housing ACT were a line of questioning for Treasurer Chris Steel during recent annual report hearings.
Mr Steel isn’t the appropriate minister for the public service or housing (that’s Rachel Stephen-Smith and Yvette Berry, respectively); however, he did state, “We’ve been clear that the public service will continue to grow, and the expenditure on employee expenses will continue to grow.”
Canberra Liberals leader Mark Parton questioned why the CPSU was preparing its members for job and allowance cuts if public service jobs were, in fact, secure.
“The Treasurer owes the Canberra community some straight answers. The stories emerging from staff and the actions of their union tell a very different story to the one Treasurer Steel continues to present,” he said.
When Region approached Ms Berry’s office, a Health and Community Services Directorate spokesperson said the “majority” of Housing Assistance employees were permanent public servants.
“At times, it may be necessary to engage alternative mechanisms to support service delivery, such as short-term non-ongoing contracts and labour hire contractors,” they said.
“There have been no cuts impacting ongoing Housing Assistance employees.”
The spokesperson said there were 13 labour hire contractors (as of 21 November) engaged by Housing Assistance who had been told they would not be re-engaged once their current contracts ended.
An additional seven people with non-ongoing government contracts have also been told there was “no current intention to extend beyond their current contract end date”.
“The exact end dates vary depending on the individual,” the spokesperson said.
One contractor that will continue providing the ACT Government with services is Programmed Facility Management. It will provide repair and maintenance of public housing properties until the end of 2027.
Region also asked the government what they thought the CPSU would be concerned about if there weren’t cuts.
This question was not answered.
