After around 40 years of community volunteer involvement, volunteers are no longer being used in the Glen Innes Meals on Wheels service. As of 1 July 2025, the delivery of meals is being carried out entirely by paid staff from Life Choices Support Services (LC-SS), a division of Glen Innes Severn Council, using its existing workforce.
Council has pointed to changes in aged care legislation as the main reason for the transition, stating that a professional delivery model ensures compliance with increasingly stringent requirements for training, documentation, accountability, and oversight.
“The meal delivery service will transition to a professional service delivery model. This change is necessary to ensure compliance with current aged care legislation requirements… along with the long-term financial sustainability expectations of LC-SS to continue delivering services to community,” Council said in a statement.
However, the change has generated concern among some local volunteers and community members. Several long-serving volunteers told Glen Innes News they felt blindsided by the decision and said there was little or no meaningful consultation beforehand. Many said the reasons for the shift were never clearly explained to them.
The loss of the volunteer workforce has also raised questions about how the changes might affect the personal aspect of the service — especially the regular social contact that Meals on Wheels clients often rely on.
“There are concerns that the client-facing aspects of the role will, as a result, be rushed and that clients will then miss out on vital social interaction,” one volunteer said.
Paul Sadler, Chairman of Meals on Wheels Australia, acknowledged the significance of these concerns. “The Meals on Wheels model has proved effective for over 70 years and incorporates a nutritious meal, a welfare check and vital social engagement for frail older people living at home,” he said. “These three elements can be provided by either paid staff or volunteers. The big advantage of using volunteers is the added benefit it gives to the health and wellbeing of the volunteers themselves and the opportunity it provides for local people to contribute.”
Sadler also noted that Glen Innes appears to be one of the first local services to move away from volunteer coordination. “Fortunately we have not seen many other Meals on Wheels services have to give up their reliance on volunteers, but the pressure coming from the regulatory and funding changes could see this trend accelerate in the future.”
Council has confirmed that no new staff are being hired as part of the change. Instead, existing LC-SS employees — many already carrying significant workloads — will take on meal delivery duties, with additional training to ensure attention to the social support aspect of the role.
Council maintains that the new model brings increased consistency, reduces risks, and opens up access to government funding streams not available under the former volunteer-based system. It has also stressed that fees for clients will not rise due to the change. Some meal prices have been adjusted — some up, some down — but Council says these changes are part of a broader standardisation across funding programs including NDIS, CHSP, and HCP.
In response to questions about community engagement before the decision was finalised, Council pointed to a Volunteer Morning Tea held during Volunteer Week, intended to thank volunteers and provide information about other opportunities. However, some attendees felt the event lacked transparency and substance. One volunteer described it as feeling “more like a sacking than a thank-you.”
Looking ahead, Council has said that volunteer roles will now be limited to areas such as the Library and Economic Development department. It has encouraged former Meals on Wheels volunteers to explore other opportunities to contribute to community life through local committees or activities at the Community Centre.
While Council maintains the change is necessary and ultimately beneficial, the end of long-standing volunteer involvement has raised ongoing concerns — particularly around service quality and the potential loss of personal connection between clients and the people who deliver their meals..
