As a person on the autism spectrum, having ever-changing support workers has been a source of great anxiety for me.
After establishing a relationship with one, they have inevitably left the agency and I have been allocated a new support worker, and had to begin that process of building and maintaining a relationship time and time again.
I have had six support workers over a two-year period, but for the past two years, Lorraine Abel has been supporting me with tasks and activities that I find difficult to complete.
I used to like to hide away in my room, but Ms Abel has been able to help me more actively participate in life.
Long-term staffing in the disability sector is a huge issue, with a recent report by the federal parliament's joint standing committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) estimating that 83,000 extra workers would be needed to fill the gaps in the system by 2024 as the rollout of the service continued.
The report also found that one in three disability support workers were planning to leave the sector in the next 12 months.
The shortage of workers, which is caused by a range of factors, including COVID-19 furloughing, a lack of international workers due to the pandemic, and low wages, is part of the discussions at the federal government's jobs and skills summit.
With my current disability agency also dealing with a shortage of support workers, I am conscious that I make must full use of Ms Abel and the assistance she provides for me.
Not enough hours in the day for Lorraine Abel
Ms Abel, who is also a team facilitator, has been a disability support worker for five years and sometimes works more than 50 hours a week.
Despite the huge amount of overtime, she says she ultimately falls short of completing her tasks and servicing her clients.
"For me, I am literally on call 24/7 and could be called out to support a client at 5am," Ms Abel said.
"Support workers may wish to speak with me at 8pm when they have finished their supports and want to run an issue or just debrief with me about a particular customer."
She said the current staff shortage was affecting her as she regularly worked more hours than she was contracted for.
"As a team's facilitator and support worker, we are not 'supposed' to work more than 76 hours a fortnight without having four days off," she said.
As my current support worker and someone who understands my needs as a person with autism, Ms Abel knows how to identify my potential triggers. But getting to this point has taken a lot of hard work from both of us.
"If Nick is feeling overwhelmed and is able to communicate this to me, then I am able to navigate him away from that situation," she said.
"This has occurred because I am constantly communicating and engaging with him, which allows him to respond. I can then assess what needs to occur so that he avoids a potential meltdown, or I can move him away from that place to somewhere safe."
Having Ms Abel by my side for the past two years has meant we have been able to build a meaningful authentic relationship.
According to figures from the NDIS National Workforce Plan: 2021-2025, the current NDIS workforce is estimated at 270,000 workers across 20 occupations.
But Australian Services Union WA branch secretary Wayne Wood said one in three disability support workers were planning to leave the sector in the next 12 months.
Pay rate 'like McDonald's', but less security
Lyn-Lee Teh, human resources lead at disability service provider AVIVO, where Ms Abel is employed, said the company recorded about 5 per cent turnover each month, but that number was fluctuating.
"There are a multitude of reasons why people leave — often it is in relation to the number of hours that they can receive, pay, pressures of the work, or they can just burn out," she said.
"COVID vaccination mandates and requirements around PPE have also had a significant impact, with many organisations in the sector losing between 4 and 8 per cent of their workforce."
Ms Teh said there had been challenges even before COVID, however, the pandemic exacerbated the shortage.
AVIVO currently has 36 job ads running in a bid to recruit more disability support workers to the sector.
"Lack of immigration, growth in other sectors, and more competitive pay rates have made it challenging during COVID," Ms Teh said.
"Retention is a bigger and more pressing challenge than worker shortage, training, or recruitment.
"The main challenge for the sector is a lack of already-skilled workers willing to undertake important, physically and emotionally demanding work for a rate of pay akin to taking a job at McDonald's, but with far less job security."
Ms Teh said prospective employees needed to consider that supporting people to help them reach their full potential was as important as working for a big consulting organisation or mining company.
"[We need to ensure] that students learn about the sector at primary school all the way through to high school and tertiary education," she said.
"[And we need] industrial reform that would enable providers to provide a more secure income."
Low pay, lack of career options plague workforce
Mr Wood said there were several factors that continued to contribute to high turnover in the disability sector, including low pay, insecure work, and a perceived lack of future in the career.
"Disability support workers continue to be in high demand and under more pressure than ever supporting some of the most vulnerable people within our community," he said.
"The biggest contributing factor of this high turnover is the low pay for disability support workers coupled with a chronic skills shortage for people in the disability sector."
Mr Wood said workers would not stay if they did not have a secure, decently paid job and they did not see disability support work as a future career for themselves.
"Thanks to the lobbying work of ASU members, the NDIS announced a 9 per cent increase in NDIS prices to cover wage rises and better working conditions for disability support workers from July 1, 2022," he explained.
"These changes don't fix everything that's wrong with the NDIS increases, but it's a firm step in the right direction."
National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten said the disability sector was not immune to the workforce shortages felt across the country.
"Last week, I convened a NDIS Jobs and Skills Forum for NDIS participants, their families, providers, disability organisations, the wider disability sector, and unions to talk about this very issue," he said.
"It's time to freshen our approach, and that is what we have been doing. The focus of the Albanese government is to make sure disability work is attractive and supported, but also that it's more than a job — it can be a career."
Mr Shorten said that the government was committed to increasing the number of workers in the disability care sector to support participants to live the life they chose.
"We also want to make sure workers are properly remunerated, and we want to make sure there is a better training system to help them expand their skills," he said.
Australian Greens spokesperson for Disability Rights and Services Jordon Steele-John called for employment outcomes for people with disability to be a clear priority at this week's jobs and skills summit.
"The disability community and the government are aware of the challenges disabled people experience around employment; it's time to act to urgently address them," he said.
My support worker Ms Abel said working in disability services meant she could have a profound impact on people's life.
"You're providing care and support to someone who needs it most and helping them to become more independent and confident," she said.
"I see every day as a chance to do something different and make a difference."
