DISABILITY support workers are facing "enormous stress" amid labour shortages and huge industry growth, and there's a focus on ensuring they are supported themselves.
NSW work, health and safety minister Sophie Cotsis was in Newcastle on Friday to meet with Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison, SafeWork NSW inspectors conducting audits in the Hunter this month, and a local service provider who had positive results.
"I think that the care sector in general is growing, but we also have shortages of staff, so our existing disability support workers and our care workers are under extraordinary stress," Ms Cotsis told the Newcastle Herald.
"So, we need to make sure that for those who are in the sector, we are providing support for them."
Ms Cotsis said the SafeWork NSW audits of disability support service providers across Newcastle and the Hunter in June would be crucial to making sure businesses were aware of the code of practice when it came to "psycho-social" hazards, and implementing it.
She said she had been made aware of concerns in the industry locally of high stress levels, high demand, harassment and bullying.
Ms Cotsis said the audits would reveal how better to assist disability support workers, and ensure providers are doing the right thing.
Jim Kelly, director of health and safe design at SafeWork NSW, confirmed improvement notices had already been issued to local services in the first week of the month-long campaign.
Depending on the level of breach detected and how the business responds, penalties or even prosecution in court can flow.
He said inspectors were focusing on ensuring providers had systems in place to identify and act on hazards like role clarity, bullying, excessive work demands, and exposure to trauma.
"These are really challenging jobs that play a really important and valuable role in society so we really want to look after these workers," Mr Kelly said.
He said the Hunter was chosen as a focus area because it was a "pilot site" almost a decade ago for the National Disability Insurance Agency, so providers were well-established and should have solid support systems up and running.
Charlestown disability support service Includa has already been audited and director Mitchell Jones said he was pleased by the positive results.
He said a core value of the business was the listen, learn and grow, and that he saw it as an opportunity to get feedback.
"I think experiences of disability support workers are fundamental to the success of this sector," he said.
"I think it's an unfair expectation for us on a support worker to provide really great, meaningful support to people if they're not trusted and nurtured and valued by their employer."
While Ms Cotsis was in the Newcastle area, she also gave a speech at a Newcastle Industrial Relations Society function.
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