No new offer from Government as Child Safety and Youth Justice workers prepare to escalate action

Together Branch of the ASU

Child Safety and Youth Justice workers say the Queensland Government is leaving them little choice but to escalate industrial action after the Departments failed to table a new offer in negotiations on Thursday.

The meeting came less than a week after Together members walked off the job at locations across Queensland last Friday and took their concerns directly to local MPs’ offices. Together said the action included the largest turnout of Youth Justice members it had seen, reflecting growing frustration across the workforce.

On the same afternoon workers took action, the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety quietly released its 2025–26 Annual Report.

The report reveals the Department recorded an $86.4 million operating deficit, with spending on supplies and services $339.4 million over budget, primarily due to increased child placement costs, including more costly residential care.

At the same time, the Department’s overall workforce grew by just 2.9 per cent, while spending on Child Safety service procurement increased 13.5 per cent to more than $2 billion.

The report also acknowledges the Department’s Unify case management system has increased administrative effort for frontline staff and reduced access to timely operational reporting, while many key Child Safety performance measures, including placement stability, are listed as “TBA”. It contains no published data on worker caseloads.

“Workers walked off the job last week to send the Government a clear message. Almost a week later, there is still no new offer on the table and no meaningful movement on the issues Child Safety and Youth Justice workers have been raising,” Together Assistant Secretary Dee Spink said.

“While workers were standing outside MPs’ offices demanding action, the Government was taking out the trash. But its own annual report only reinforces what workers have been saying.

“The Government’s report shows hundreds of millions of dollars in unplanned additional spending, driven primarily by rising child placement costs, while the frontline workforce trying to keep children out of crisis remains under enormous pressure.

“Child Safety and Youth Justice workers took action. They went directly to MPs. They came back to the bargaining table. And there is still no new offer.

“Workers have given the Government every opportunity to resolve this. Without a new offer that addresses the issues they have been raising, workers are being left with little choice but to escalate.”

Protected industrial action has been underway since 3 August, with bargaining over a new Child Safety and Youth Justice Agreement stalled for weeks.

Ms Spink said Together members were now planning further action in the coming weeks.

“Nobody wants to be in this position. Workers would much rather be supporting children and young people, but they will not keep quietly holding up a system while children pay the price for continued inaction,” she said.

“Further action can still be avoided. The Government needs to return with an offer that addresses workloads, attraction and retention, and the resources needed to deliver reform.

“Until that happens, our members are prepared to keep escalating.”

ENDS

Amy Price, 0437 027 156