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Aruma Enterprise Agreement update for members

You can vote on Aruma’s draft enterprise agreement on Thursday 22 January 2026. Voting will close on Wednesday 28 January 2026.

The CPSU NSW is recommending that all employees VOTE NO and bring Aruma back to the bargaining table.

Aruma circulated its wish list draft Agreement to staff without consultation and while there are still significant outstanding issues being worked through.

Aruma has shared a draft Agreement with staff prior to completing consultation, and while a number of important matters are still being resolved. At this stage, the draft reflects changes that would reduce current wages and conditions.

Why is Aruma trying to rush the agreement through?

Many employees are angry that Aruma management is:

• pushing a very short period for employees to review a combined 352 pages of documentation with limited time to consider the information.
• calling for votes when some staff are still on leave from the festive season.
• trying to push through a draft agreement that is substandard and has not been agreed to by the unions.
• attempting to blackmail staff with the threat that if the agreement is not voted up by staff, it will consider filing an application to terminate the existing House With No Steps Enterprise Agreement 2013.

Aruma wants to slash your penalty rates and some of your other allowances which are above the SCHaDS Award anyway. This means there is no real disincentive for you to VOTE NO to see if a better Enterprise Agreement can be made.

What can you do?

Do all you can to support the CPSU NSW VOTE NO campaign.

If you don’t want to be stuck on a substandard agreement for three years, YOU MUST VOTE and YOU MUST VOTE NO.

Share the CPSU NSW bargaining bulletins with your work colleagues – even if they are not in the union, their vote will count. They may not have received the email for many reasons, such as finishing a night shift and not checking their emails.

Talk to your colleagues at your own site, and others who work elsewhere. Conversations matter when important industrial matters, like voting for an enterprise agreement.

The more employees who VOTE NO, the louder your voice. United we bargain, divided we beg!

But, I’m a casual employee and I’m not in any union. I don’t need to vote!

Wrong! All employees that are to be covered by the Enterprise Agreement are entitled to vote.

CPSU NSW calls on all employees, whether you are a member or not, to VOTE NO and send a clear message to Aruma management that the work you do is important to the disabled participants you support and your conditions and pay should not be cut.

Regardless of whether you are working in a group home, community access or working in other areas that are not hands on, the work you do is vital to make life better for the NDIS participants Aruma supports.

What’s at risk?

If you believe that you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, then it is essential that you VOTE NO.

If you seek an Agreement that reflects fair and reasonable employment conditions, you must VOTE NO.

Aruma requires only a simple majority of participating voters to approve this draft agreement. If employees choose not to vote, a small number of “yes” votes may determine the outcome and result in the adoption of a substandard agreement that affects everyone.

Both members and non-members have a direct interest in the terms and conditions of employment under this agreement.

Accordingly, you should cast your vote as soon as the ballot opens to ensure your views are represented by voting NO.

How do I vote?

All voting will be conducted electronically, and you can vote on a computer either at a dedicated computer at work, or in the privacy of your own home. Voting can also be done or from your phone via SMS.

Voting electronically is easy, confidential, and secure. Most large providers vote electronically these days.

Aruma have engaged TrueVote, an external expert provider to manage the voting process for this Agreement. TrueVote will communicate directly with you about the vote.

On Thursday 22 January 2026, you will receive a personalised email from TrueVote titled: Voting Proposed Aruma Services (NSW, ACT & QLD) Enterprise Agreement 2026 with Voting instructions.

Aruma advises that you can vote at any time during the ballot period which is from 09:00am 22 January 2026 to 05:00 pm 28 January 2026. TrueVote uses the minimum amount of information to conduct the ballot and TrueVote will not share your personal information with anyone.

Vote early – VOTE NO!