Young aged care leaders and the federal budget

WORKFORCE IS A KEY UNMET ISSUE

The 2021-22 Federal Budget has seen aged care put forward as a key agenda item for the future of Australia. A total of $17.7 billion has been allocated to ensure the industry doesn’t repeat the mistakes of its past, and the Australian Government invests in a system vital to our future.

It was an opportunity we all hoped would show a significant investment in ‘generational change’—a legacy of ensuring quality and safe care for older Australians.

Unfortunately, independent estimates suggest the cost of the sort of fundamental reform proposed by the Royal will cost at least $10 billion a year, so getting a little over $4 billion a year is not enough to overturn the system.

Our young professionals are the industry leaders of the future, so we asked them to share their thoughts on the Budget. Their responses show optimism for the future, but highlight a deep concern for the industry’s ability to invest, attract and sustain the workforce we need for today and tomorrow.

The funding is not insignificant, and it will support our industry with our current concerns and issues. Unfortunately, the current Budget investment and Government responses to the Aged Care Royal Commission recommendations do not take into account the transformation our young and established leaders are seeking for the future of aged care.

I ask our politicians to please work with our consumers, providers and workers to make the workforce changes we need for a better aged care system.

The lack of investment in improving sector wages, particularly for our frontline workers (cleaners, care workers, nurses and hospitality staff), is hurting and creating lifelong scars. The very people who are physically and emotionally experiencing the failure in Government leadership and planning for the future care of our older Australians need more. They are looking to Government to ensure, not only that they are reimbursed for their care and support for older Australians, but they are part of a robust system that delivers on the transformation and leadership in safe and quality care.

The Royal Commission indicated that our direct care workforce needs to increase by 70 per cent by 2050 to maintain current care needs.

Our workforce is ageing and as people retire over the next 10 years, we need to replace every worker with two or three more, to ensure we are ready to support the increase in care hours in residential care being mandated by Government, plus the expansion of Home Care Packages, and the needs and demands of an ageing population. Without significant Government leadership, our young leaders in age services will rapidly exit our workplaces for sectors more accepting of change and transformation.

We need to give our young leaders a voice, not just through initiatives like LASA Next Gen. This needs to be embedded in our organisations and into the way Government approaches workforce issues. We need to show young people the opportunities available to them, and give them the tools and support to reach their goals.

What we need, is to create a system and a structure that attracts and retains our young workforce talent. We need every one of them to join us in building a better ageing future.

Samantha Bowen is Principal Advisor Next Gen and Principal Advisor LASA Mentoring Program, Leading Age Services Australia.

What do young leaders think about the Government’s Budget response?

I think it’s been a positive budget for aged care after many long years. However, there needs to be strong focus in aged care workforce strategy, budget allocation for ongoing learning and development of the workforce (not only nurses), support for organisations to build robust systems and process to provide quality care, and a focus on residential care to create home-like environments for ageing Australians. — Eshna Khadka, Next Gen Ambassador I am underwhelmed by the $17.7 billion to be honest. There’s no doubt it’s a strategic olive branch of sorts to appease the target voting population, who are unlikely to understand just how much more the sector actually needs. What was the point of the Aged Care Royal Commission if the Government won’t actually accept and implement the recommendations? — Aynsley Johnson, Next Gen Ambassador

The funding will mostly go to home care. What about all the residential care providers already feeling the strain of poor financial viability? Staffing in RACFs is also abysmal. There is an extreme shortage of skilled workforce in RACFs because of the exponential growth in Home Care Packages. I hoped for more focus and investment towards developing and attracting the workforce into aged care. This must happen ASAP. — Karren Estologa, Next Gen Ambassador Our workforce is ageing and as people retire over the next 10 years, we need to replace every worker with two or three more, to ensure we are ready to support the increase in care hours in residential care being mandated by Government, plus the expansion of Home Care Packages, and the needs and demands of an ageing population. Without significant Government leadership, our young leaders in age services will rapidly exit our workplaces for sectors more accepting of change and transformation. — Samantha Bowen, LASA Principal Advisor Next Gen