SECURE JOBS AT VENTIA

These Officers Are At Their Wits End And Want To See Their Contract Back In House

Court and Custody Officers are calling on the WA State Government to bring their Department of Justice contract back in house and secure the jobs of over 300 guards. And retain well-trained and experienced guards by attracting them to a high-risk industry with reliable, safe, secure and meaningful roles.

“We are Care and Custodial officers who work for contractor Ventia under the Department of Justice (“DoJ”) Court Security and Custodial Services (“CS&CS”) contract. Some of us have worked in this role for 20 years and have not once received long service leave. The contract constantly changes providers and has been mismanaged since it was privatised by the Department of Justice in 2000.”

“You may remember hearing about the tragic death in custody of Mr. Ward under G4S/GSL, the many issues Serco had with the contract or when prisoner Laurie Dodds escaped in 2019 under the provider Broadspectrum.

We work in a challenging role and a risky environment, transporting persons in custody to hospitals and keeping a watch on persons in custody who have left the prisons for the day, for whatever reason. The contract in its form is simply unsustainable.

We deal with a high turnover of staff, other untrained guards (subcontractors the company uses to keep costs down), low morale, and low paid, insecure, casualized jobs.”

“After being stonewalled on two occasions by the company and the Fair Work Commission when we tried to take protected industrial action, NOW we are calling for the WA State Government to bring the contract back in house and provide us with safe, secure and reliable jobs we can count on.” www.megaphone. org.au/petitions/