It's been two years since The Benevolent Society opened its first Illawarra office - and started providing NDIS-funded services across the state.
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Yet the charity is now reviewing the disability services it took over from the NSW Government in 2017 as part of the transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
From this month the society has announced it will start reducing staffing numbers and merge offices across regional NSW.
The Nowra office will close by the end of July to 'merge' with the Illawarra office, based at University of Wollongong's Innovation campus. It is not known how many staff will be let go as part of that process.
From August, the society will reduce the number of nurses, and will no longer have therapy assistants as part of their team.
Troy Wright, acting general secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union NSW, said the Benevolent Society had told the union it was working towards a more sustainable operating model focused on allied health and behavioural support services.
... Private providers tell our members 'we're not here to make a profit, but we're not here to make a loss either'.
"Other services will be scaled back or cut altogether and some offices will be closed or amalgamated in an effort to cut costs," he said.
"This isn't just a loss for people with a disability. It means people who have worked in the sector for decades will be left without work.
"Because they were moved off the public service model two years ago they also won't have the full extent of their professional commitment recognised in any severance packages."
However a Benevolent Society spokesperson said the change in approach would ensure the organisation's "staffing levels and property footprint meet community demand and are financially sustainable under the NDIS".
The society remained committed to the provision of services to people with intellectual disabilities and service provision would not change for the "majority of clients".
"Wollongong will become the primary hub for services in the Illawarra region and we will continue to service the area with the current demand," the spokesperson said. "Across NSW our staff work with mobile technology to meet clients in their homes and communities. We will use that approach to work across the Illawarra region without a physical premise in Nowra."
The spokesperson said a "limited number" of staff would lose their jobs under the new model. Some would be given the opportunity to retrain and transfer to other areas, such as The Benevolent Society's programs with children and families.
"We are making all possible efforts to ensure that there will be no or minimal impact to the region," the spokesperson said.
"We are continuing to provide service to our clients and the demand of the area with the provision of behaviour support and allied health services including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, as well as support coordination. Within the Illawarra region our clients will not have to look for alternate providers."
Meantime Mr Wright said the NSW government used to provide 40 per cent of the state's disability services, but under the guise of the NDIS it had "torn up its social contract with the state's most vulnerable".
"The CPSU has long warned that this is privatisation by stealth and will leave those who rely on disability services left behind," he said.
"... Private providers tell our members 'we're not here to make a profit, but we're not here to make a loss either'.
"Treating people with a disability as if they're customers bargain hunting for services fundamentally undermines the spirit of NDIS. The intention was to empower people to have more control over their care, not to cash in on the services they need to live their lives."
