Hello comrades,

This Easter long-weekend we know that many of you will be at work: providing critical care and support to your fellow Victorians at a time of unprecedented challenge. For those of you that are able to be at home, we hope that you are able to find a few moments of peace and relaxation.

The commitment of our members continues to astound and humble us. To support our members in the uncertain times that we find ourselves in, a small HACSU team, including Paul and Kate, is continuing to work over the course of this long weekend. Today we have been on call throughout the day, responding as quickly as we can to enquiries and concerns from our members. We’ll continue to work throughout the long weekend: if you need us, we are here for you. Please bear with us if we take a little longer to respond than during the working week.

There is relatively little in the way of ‘news’ today. Last night, 9th April, we were notified that DHHS had updated the State’s COVID-19 disability sector plan.  The plan now includes changes to personal protective equipment (PPE) processes, and is accessible at https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/information-community-services-coronavirus-disease-covid-19. We have a range of ongoing concerns about the State’s policy towards the disability sector, and these will be raised at the highest levels of government from Tuesday.

HACSU continues to lobby intensively for radically enhanced access to PPE for our members. As you know, yesterday HACSU State Secretary Paul Healey and Assistant State Secretary Kate Marshall met with the Victorian Disability Minister’s Chief of Staff to discuss the ongoing lack of PPE in the sector, and other concerns. We expect these discussions to continue in earnest from Tuesday. The safety and wellbeing of all our members- in all sectors of our membership- dominates our every waking moment, and will continue to do so throughout this crisis.

HACSU will be available to our members tomorrow, Easter Sunday, and on Easter Monday. We will be operating with only minimal staff so if you have an urgent need to call, we ask that you please leave us a voicemail message or send us an email  assist@hacsu.asn.au  and you will be responded to as soon as we are able.

Once again, we wish you and your families well at the start of this unusual Easter weekend.

If you need us, we are here for you.

In unity,

HACSU