The embattled South Coast Council aided by the support of the Nurses and Midwives Association, Health Services Union, United Services Union, Local Government Engineers Association of NSW, and Development and Environment Professionals’ Association, has been found exempt from paying staff at the residential care home redundancies.
Kiama Council found the staff "acceptable alternative employment" with Hall & Prior which has agreed to buy Blue Haven Bonaira Aged Care.
Council CEO Jane Stroud thanked five unions for their contributions to the negotiations with the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC), adding the staff can accept their Letters of Offer from Hall & Prior.
Council Chief Operating Officer Joe Gaudiosi said, “It was a key part of Council’s resolution back in 2022 that any sale of Blue Haven would ensure our staff have continuity of employment and retain their leave entitlements.”
The 134-bed Blue Haven Bonaira, which cost Kiama Council $105 million to build, has been plagued by controversy since it opened in 2019 and has been blamed for the Council's poor financial position. The home lost $660,000 in July 2022 alone. A NSW Government-issued Performance Improvement Order was issued in November 2022.
Perth-based, family owned aged care operator Hall & Prior, which has 24 aged care homes in WA, 13 in NSW, and one in Canberra, agreed to buy Blue Haven Bonaira in June 2024. Since then, time extensions were granted on the purchase. In December 2024, The Weekly SOURCE reported the acquisition price had been slashed by $6 million to $89 million due to problems with the building identified by engineers.
Read the IRC decision here.
