Aged care providers will be forced to disclose how much they pay their staff, more than 1,000 viewers heard at last Thursday’s Quarterly Financial Reporting webinar hosted by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
From late December – just two-and-a-half months away – the Department will publish a list of all residential and home care providers’ minimum, average and maximum wages rates for Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses and personal care workers on its website.
The Department will also publish how workers are paid, whether it be through awards, enterprise agreements or individual agreements.
“Information from quarter four 2022-23, as well as quarter one 2023-24 will be published,” said Aged Care Workforce Branch Assistant Secretary, Emma Gleeson.
“These two quarters of information will show the difference between wage rates before and after the wage increases that occurred in the middle of this year.
“Providers will not be able to preview this information before it is published as it is just factual information that is drawn directly from your reporting,” she said.
From the first quarter of 2023-24, providers will also be required to attest that all funding the Government provided for wage increases has been passed on to workers for wages and associated costs.
Providers asked the webinar hosts why they had to report both fourth quarter Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) data and Aged Care Financial Report (ACFR) data for the whole year.
“The (QFR) Q4 data allows more timely analysis of the sector and is used for the monitoring of care minutes, the star rating system and pricing.
“The ACFR data is far more comprehensive and needs to be supported by audited financial statements,” said Department of Health and Aged Care Director, Quarterly Financial Report Project, and Acting Director, Financial Reporting Analysis, Kate Stewart.
The SOURCE: Wages transparency will make it easier for aged care workers to see which providers are paying above the award rate which could lead to more turnover in the sector.