Northern District Members Meeting and update from Homes NSW Joint Consultative Committee Meeting
On 16 December 2025 PSA delegates and industrial staff met with Homes NSW Northern management for our bi-monthly Joint Consultative Committee (JCC). You can view the meeting minutes HERE. The agenda was too full so an extra-ordinary meeting was then held on 29 January 2026. It is important that you read these minutes so you can have an understanding on the issues raised and the responses provided. If the responses provided are not reflective of what is happening on the ground we want to know.
Functional Review
It is clear that the Functional Review hasn’t streamlined service delivery and has in fact increased workload. Removing 37 positions from the district is absolutely going to increase workloads for staff on the ground. Members are particularly galled that they were told that centralised teams would be created to allow local staff to concentrate on core functions in delivering housing services, yet they are now being rostered to work the telephone lines. The PSA is aware that 300 – 400 telephone calls had been abandoned each day. The executive is aware and has responded by stating that they are working within the funding that was allocated.
Concerns have been raised about the distance that staff must travel to service vulnerable clients. Compounding this issue is clients can no longer attend Armidale or Tamworth CSC for Housing support. So we question whether customer service really is at the heart of this functional review.
Workload
The PSA is concerned about the high level of workload that our members face at Homes NSW, and we would like to remind our members that KPIs are simply the method management use to quantify the targets set by their bosses. It is not worth your mental health and burn-out to you work beyond your capacity and hours so executives can say they are meeting targets. For too long Homes NSW have relied on your empathy to support clients at the detriment of your own mental health. If Homes NSW executives want to meet their targets, then they must increase the funding for staffing.
The PSA encourages all members to meet targets that support your housing clients and not the KPIs of your executive. If you are being pressured to meet KPIs we want to hear about it. Often this is done verbally, so push back and ask for these targets to be sent to you in writing. Homes NSW can’t have it both ways: decrease roles; and meet their targets. Something has to give and its usually the burn out of staff.
The PSA reminds members to make sure you are recording all the hours you are doing on your time sheets. If you are asked to complete tasks that would take you over your allocated hours at the end of the settlement period then ask for overtime.
The PSA is strongly suggesting you record your workload and safety issues via WHS Safety Suite reports, and send these safety suite reports to the PSA, either to your delegates or PSA Regional Organiser Rebecca Reilly. We know that this is often time-consuming; however, it’s one of the only tools we have to hold managment to account. Your delegates are willing to sit down with you and support you with doing this. Follow the links on how to report a confidential incident HERE, an injury or illness HERE, or a hazard or near miss HERE.
Escalating violence and abuse of Homes NSW members
Our members have been exposed to increasing violence and abuse in carrying out their duties. It’s not okay for staff to be continually exposed to this level of violence and abuse. Record this by completing WHS reports and advise the PSA if you are not being supported by Homes NSW. This is the reason why the PSA is standing strong on the dispute on the concierge desk. Homes NSW are yet to provide the PSA with an explanation as to why they are allowing this exposure to risk.
Members meeting
Join the PSA for a district wide online member meeting
Date Thursday 12 February 2026
Time 1:00pm
Location Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID 452 666 893 263 34
Passcode 6wV3VY98
Contact