Sector to be burdened with $84 million dollar bill for long-service leave changes

Peak NSW social services body, NCOSS, has raised concerns about the Portable Long Service scheme levy being an unfunded cost- which could burden community service providers with an $84 million dollar bill.

An analysis based on data shared by the Department of Communities and Justice, revealed the staggering costs that front-line, critical support organisations will need to find in their existing budgets from July 1.

NCOSS CEO, Cara Varian, said the peak body strongly supports the introduction of the Portable Long Service Leave scheme but warned that it shouldn’t come at a cost to individual service providers.

“Service providers are being stretched between rising delivery costs and growing demand, so any further financial burden could force them to cut critical investment or reduce service delivery.

“We don’t want to see any reduction in the high-quality services provided by the sector, or any threat to their long-term viability. We certainly don’t want the people of NSW to be left without the critical supports that they need, particularly in today’s cost-of-living crisis,” Ms Varian said.

NCOSS stated that all organisations that provide critical services for the NSW Government will be affected, including for homelessness, domestic, sexual and family violence, disability and child and family support.

“An $84 million dollar bill will be a significant burden for organisations that are already running on tight margins- the last thing we’d want to happen is for service organisations being left to foot a higher wages bill and ultimately impede their capacity to hire workers the scheme is designed to assist.

“We’re committed to working with the government to find a workable solution to reduce the impost of the levy on the sector, so it can continue to provide those critical services to the communities of NSW,” Ms Varian said.

Media contact: Bron Matherson, 0438 844 765 or Maria Kelly, 0432 049 034