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Plenty of Noise but Little Revealed Through Budget Estimates

The weeks leading up the the State budget are generally the busiest of the year. Each Agency is required to prepare folders of budget estimates briefs covering any issue a Minister might be quizzed on during the few hours of Estimates hearings. Normal work – delivering services to Tasmanians – is suspended while we go […]

Budget Funds to Implement State Service Review Recommendations

The 2022/23 Budget includes a total of around $2 million for projects to begin to implement the 77 recommendations from the Review of the Tasmanian State Service. There is $240,000 in 2022/23 to review the effectiveness of the current processes to investigate Code of Conduct breaches across the State Service.  At present each Agency appoints […]

Widespread Underclassification of Workers at Port Arthur Ongoing

The 2022-23 State Budget sees the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority securing operational funding for the next 5 years, increasing from $4,283,000 to $4,500,000. This equates to indexation of 2.5% – this is worrying. We all know that inflation is rising higher, with no signs of slowing, and we’re concerned that what this equates […]

Parks & Wildlife Service Agreement – What’s the hold up?

Late last year, following months of negotiations, CPSU told PWS that it was time to put pen to paper and make a formal offer to CPSU members to vote on.  PWS gave a commitment that an offer would be provided by late February, early March at the latest – yet here we are in June […]

Speech Pathology Skills Shortage – Where’s the Plan?

It was great to see a solid commitment in the Tasmanian State Budget for literacy, but we all know that Speech and Language Pathologists are key to supporting literacy development in schools. Providing all schools with more access to Speech Pathologists would not only greatly help children with communication and reading difficulties, but also provide […]

Quarterly Libraries Tasmania and CPSU Meeting debrief

Delegates David Bloomfield and Hannah Glowacka, and me, your CPSU organiser Michael McLoughlin, met with Sue McKerracher (Executive Director) and Natalie Brown (Director Library Network) for our Quarterly Libraries Tasmania and CPSU Meeting. As part of the new strategic directions for Libraries Tasmania there has been a commitment to address long-term workforce planning issues through […]

Still No Consultation on Merger of Education and Child Safety

The CPSU is very concerned the government intends to proceed with its decision to merge responsibility for the education of children with its child protection responsibilities. The decision to abolish the Department of Communities Tasmania and transfer the Child Safety Service and Youth Justice to the Department of Education has been made without any consultation […]

State Budget: New Programs for DOE But Funding is Questionable

Michael Ferguson’s first budget as Treasurer includes plenty of new initiatives but like much of his budget it’s not clear how they are funded. Big spending initiatives like his $36 million for School Safeguarding Officers are new initiatives but the budget papers indicate they will be ‘funded from within the Department’s existing resources’. What existing programs won’t […]

New Funding for “Digital Hospital Futures”: State Budget

The Rockliff Government has committed $150m over four years as part of a decade-long overhaul of the state’s digital health ICT infrastructure. There is no doubt that digital systems across our health system are in dire need of an upgrade.   The $150m announced is just the first four years of a 10-year digital health ‘transformation’ […]

Too Little to Make a Difference for Child Safety

Michael Ferguson’s 2022/23 budget was called ‘Strengthening our Future’ but a more appropriate title would have been ‘Too Little to Make a Difference’ – and that is certainly true of its funding of Children Services.  There is an additional $5.4 million over four years to meet increased demand in the Child Safety Service System which […]