Child protection workers will be off-limits in the looming job cuts.Credit:istock
There are currently 4841 full-time equivalent staff at the department.
“While there are a number of ways we can reduce spending,many of which we are already undertaking,we will need to reduce the number of roles in our department to achieve the savings required of us,” she wrote.
McCammon stressed there would be no reductions to so-called “frontline” workers – with roles including child protection practitioners,youth and families workers,housing services officers and disability support officers quarantined from job cuts.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says the mood within the broader department is “harrowing” due to ongoing uncertainty about which positions or programs could be cut.
Community and Public Sector Union Victorian secretary Karen Batt.Credit:Eddie Jim
McCammon will address staff on Tuesday to outline the “high-level changes” and how the cuts – which will include vacant roles – will be spread between public servants and executives.
CPSU organiser Magda Akkerman welcomed the department’s commitment to keeping child protection and other frontline workers quarantined from job losses,but questioned how they could do their jobs effectively without support from their colleagues.