A landmark election for aged care

THE INDUSTRY’S CALL FOR WORKFORCE ACTION IS LONG OVERDUE

The Australian Aged Care Collaboration represents more than 1,000 organisations. Together, we currently care for 1.3 million older Australians—and we are united in our call for workforce reform as a key election issue.

It is estimated that around 1.5 million people will be accessing subsidised aged care services by 2023/24, and care is delivered by a workforce of more than 400,000 people.

In 2020, there were 277,671 workers in residential aged care, 80,340 workers delivering home care packages, and 76,096 workers delivering Commonwealth Home Support Program services. Direct care staff make up the largest workforce contingent, and most direct care staff work in permanent parttime positions.

Since the start of the pandemic, aged care workers have gone above and beyond to deliver care. They have been on the frontline of the response, keeping people as safe as possible in uncertain times.

Aged care workers should be getting the pay they deserve and career certainty. The Aged Care Royal Commission recognised this. It called for higher wages, better qualifications, and more time for workers to spend with older people.

The Government’s response to the Royal Commission did not, however, adequately address the workforce pressures we are now contending with. Staffing pressures in aged care have been building for decades. The pandemic has only made them worse, fueling the current crisis.

Some older people are being turned away from services because providers do not have enough staff. In 2021, each resident was losing 26 hours of care a year because of shifts that could not be filled, and some home care clients had difficulty accessing any services at all.

Fixing the aged care pay gap is the key to solving this crisis. Nurses and carers in aged care are paid much less than if they worked in the disability or health sectors. This is the number one reason why workers leave the sector. Fixing aged care means fixing aged care funding. This is the only way that providers can hire enough staff, invest in quality care for older people, and prepare for what the pandemic throws at us next.

At this upcoming election, we are campaigning to urgently address the workforce crisis and are seeking a collaborative commitment from electoral candidates to address resource issues in the long term. We are asking all parties and independent candidates to join representatives of older people and their carers, providers, unions, and health professionals in supporting a national aged care workforce partnership.

In line with this partnership, we are calling for: 1. A Workforce Partnership Supplement for providers to spend immediately on increasing wages, training, minutes of care, 24-hour nursing and COVID-19 prevention and workforce retention costs. 2. A minimum wage increase for aged care workers by funding the Fair Work Commission Work Value Case, and award wage increases from July 2022. 3. A commitment to a multidisciplinary workforce by putting in place an allied health needs assessment and funding model by July 2024.

The COVID-19 pandemic, presenting on the back of the Royal Commission, has brought to the forefront much needed public visibility and a political imperative for action to alleviate aged care workforce pressures. Without immediate changes, the aged care sector won’t be able to recover from the current crisis.

Action to address aged care workforce pressures is necessary to prevent the quality of care for older Australians from suffering further. It’s time to make sure that older Australians get the care they deserve, by investing in the aged care workforce central to the delivery of care. We need to act now, once and for all.

Sean Rooney is Chief Executive Officer, Leading Age Services Australia. To get involved visit careaboutagedcare.org.au