Disability not-for-profit blames NDIS funding for allied health staff cuts

St. Giles CEO Honni Pitt said the not-for-profit has recently "reluctantly" offered voluntary redundancies for a number of allied health assistants within the organisation.

Ms Pitt confirmed nine staff members took the voluntary redundancy offer.

It's understood that allied health assistants employed by St. Giles help with creating learning and visual resources for clients, equipment and maintenance loans, music therapy, parent information sessions, hydrotherapy and developmental assessment team work.

The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) has hit back at the voluntary redundancies, stating that St. Giles was to blame for its own staffing issues, while the not-for-profit blamed the move on NDIS funding.

Ms Pitt said the decision to offer the redundancies was made because funding from the NDIS was not adequate to cover the roles.

She said the decision was made with the "full support" of the organisation's board.

"No organisation wants to lose good staff," Ms Pitt said.

"But unfortunately, until the NDIS is properly funded, organisations such as ours are forced to make these decisions in order to ensure we can continue to be viable."

St. Giles has offices in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.

When asked where the affected allied health staff were located, Ms Pitt did not provide a response.

In a letter seen by The Advocate to HACSU, Ms Pitt said while St. Giles is a not-for-profit, this does not prevent that organisation from making a loss.

"To be clear, we are not talking about profit, we are talking about breaking even," Ms Pitt wrote in the letter.

"We must at a minimum cover cost to remain viable."

HACSU state secretary Robbie Moore said St. Giles had a very good reputation for delivering services for people with a disability but has now started operating like a business.

"Unfortunately, it has in recent times forgotten why it was created and is now operating like a big business despite being in receipt of not only NDIS funding but also a lot of community support," Mr Moore said.

"The decision to get rid of vital staff who provide essential services proves St. Giles has lost its way and we need to see a change of leadership in this organisation."

Mr Moore said the voluntary redundancies of nine allied health assistants would leave other staff with "excessive workloads".

He also pointed out that Labor candidate for Bass, Jess Teesdale, had recently announced a funding commitment of $3.7 million for program delivery.

Mr Moore said that funding commitment, which matched a previous pledge from Liberal candidate Bridget Archer, makes a "mockery" of what St. Giles had done to their "loyal and dedicated staff.

St. Giles declined to comment further on the claims made by HACSU.