The Homes NSW Departmental Committee (DC) meets quarterly to discuss workplace matters that affect all members across Homes NSW. The delegates on the Homes NSW DC are the peak representatives for members.
You, the members, are the strength of the union and its supreme governing body. The more you engage with your union, the more knowledge you will have to negotiate successfully with management about workplace rights and entitlements.
Too often management relies on the good will of members as a business model. Before you know it your workload has eaten into your downtime, and the emotional load has surged to meet the increasingly complex needs of clients. Unsupportive management and inefficient decision making can compound the issues and lead to burnout.
The Homes NSW DC meets to help address these issues, and others that members have raised. A few key discussions at the last meeting included:
Building a better workplace culture
Homes NSW DC delegates discussed workplace culture and issues around sick leave and, in some instances, claims for workers’ comp.*
To support a culture of success, respect, accountability and a safe workplace environment that promotes a health work-life balance, members are encouraged to work together and support one another to help address poor cultural issues in the workplace. Come along to member meetings, read your bulletins, engage with your delegates, learn how to speak up to management politely and professionally. The PSA supports you to raise issues with management so you don’t have to go it alone.
If everyone reports, stronger action can be taken. Report incidents with Safety Suite and share with the PSA. These reports support your union to provide the assistance needed to make sure concerns are appropriately addressed and resolved. Members can also put in a Safety Suite for an incident they witnessed even if it didn’t affect them directly. Together, members are stronger.
Work health and safety
Liam O’Dwyer from SafeWork NSW attended the Homes NSW DC to give an update on work health and safety (WHS) matters. Homes NSW DC delegates confirmed the daily onslaught of abuse towards frontline members and the often unhelpful response from management. Mr O’Dwyer spoke about the importance of having a health and safety representative (HSR) in the workplace, to make sure WHS issues are acted on and resolved. There should be signage up in the workplace to let people know who they are and management must provide a copy of the up-to-date list to SafeWork NSW.
If your office doesn’t have an HSR, you can ask management for one to be elected. SafeWork NSW’s Worker Representation and Participation Guide provides important information on how to make sure your workplace has worker representation and participation in WHS matters.
Anyone interested in the role can learn more about it on the SafeWork NSW website.
Psychosocial Action Plan
From 1 July 2026 the department has to comply with codes of practice. That includes the Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice.
These changes are important and members are encouraged to read and engage with their workplace’s Psychosocial Action Plan. It will provide important agreed on actions about how to manage psychosocial hazards such as role overload, workplace bullying, work-related violence and inadequate support from management. The PSA would expect the Psychosocial Action Plan to comply with SafeWork’s Code of Practice.
Late approval of flex days and annual leave
Delegates raised concerns around the late approval of leave, which seems to be managed inconsistently across the agency. In some offices leave isn’t approved until a month out and members have said it makes it difficult to plan holidays or specialist appointments, particularly around peak periods such as Christmas and Easter. Delegates pointed out that teams are able to work it out locally six months beforehand but then there are long waits for approval. If your office is affected, please let your delegate or PSA organiser know and it can be raised at the local Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meetings.
Housing Affordability Survey and Policy Recommendations 2026
PSA CPSU NSW Principal Policy Analyst Anna Patty spoke to the Homes NSW DC about the housing report that was launched at Annual Conference. The report was based on a survey of more than 5000 members. The data revealed the extent of the housing affordability crisis with two-thirds of participants in housing stress, 41 per cent in unaffordable or very unaffordable housing, and workers increasingly unable to live close to where they work because they can’t afford to. These findings will now be presented to government in Canberra. The PSA would like to see greater investment in public housing, genuinely affordable housing for key workers, better targeted rent assistance and stronger renter protections. For the full list of recommendations see pp 86-91 of the report.
Backfilling
There continues to be ongoing issues with frontline roles unable to be backfilled. A number of offices are affected. While there is a new process in place to backfill vacant roles, often there isn’t the staff available to do so. The issue continues to be raised at local JCCs and members are reminded that they should not be expected to complete the KPIs of absent colleagues in addition to their own. If KPIs can’t be met because of a shortfall in staff, then that should be clearly noted. KPIs are an important measure of productivity in the workplace but they should never be used to punish staff for work not done when a team is under resourced.
Cost-of-living adjustment payment
It was confirmed at the Homes NSW DC that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) payment would be paid, with it already in the pockets of eligible employees across Homes NSW. Thank you; these wins can’t happen without the support of membership. PSA staff are now at work on a wage value case for your next pay rise.
*Important note for members From 1 July 2026 there are new workers’ compensation reforms for psychological claims. There is a helpful overview of the changes on the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) website: Workers Compensation Reform FAQs – SIRA. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the new changes and seek advice before you submit a claim.
The next Homes NSW DC is on Thursday 10 September 2026.
Your Homes NSW DC works hard to make sure Homes NSW has strong union representation that supports and stands up for your rights in the workplace. Members are welcome and encouraged to raise any issues or concerns with their elected representatives and to reach out if they have any questions.
Knowledge is power and Homes NSW delegates and members are stronger when they work together. Your union is the strength that helps you balance the scales of power.
Contacts
Bernadette McMahon
Chair
Regional Northern District
Theresa Khoury
Vice-chair
Sydney Metropolitan Western District
Mark McFadden
Secretary
Regional Northern District
Beti Cizaloska
Assistant Secretary
Regional Southern & Western District
Mary-Ann McPherson
Women’s Contact Officer
Regional Southern & Western District
Delegates
John Grusovin
Sydney Metropolitan District
Tina Te Aho-Wilson
Sydney Metropolitan Inner West & South East District
Kadije Arja
Sydney Metropolitan South West District
Dee Gibson
Sydney Metropolitan Western District
Nicole Meade
Regional Northern District
Belinda Twomey
Regional Northern District
Damien Morgan
Regional Southern & Western District
Matthew Cooper
Aboriginal Housing Office
Gavin Wilton
Housing Portfolio