VAADA’s Submission in Response to the SCHADS Award Review
The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) has lodged a submission to the Fair Work Commission in response to its discussion paper on gender-based undervaluation within the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS).
Our submission welcomes the Expert Panel’s recognition that community services workers—many of whom are women—have been systemically undervalued. However, we also raise important concerns about how proposed changes could affect Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) services.
Key points from our submission include:
- Support for reform, but caution over a one-size-fits-all classification structure based on aged care models, which risks failing to reflect the complexity of AOD work.
- Concerns about implementation, especially for small, underfunded services with limited HR capacity.
- Calls for sustainable funding to match wage increases—so reforms don’t come at the cost of vital services.
- Emphasis on lived experience, cultural expertise, and peer roles as critical workforce elements that must be properly recognised.
We urge the Commission and all levels of government to ensure reforms uplift workers without compromising service delivery.
VAADA are signatories to the Australian Services Union (ASU) Skilled Respected Equal Alliance, which is a coalition of sector organisations committed to working together. By joining the Skilled Respected Equal Alliance, organisations are working collaboratively with the ASU and its members to support a fit-for-purpose classification system that provides better pay and career pathways for workers in the sector and advocate together for governments to properly fund and implement any new classification structure. To find out more, and details on how to join, click here.
