Tom Symondson, CEO of the sector's peak body Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA), said the Albanese Government needs to fund the pay rises for the workforce immediately.
The government has told the Fair Work Commission aged care workers should wait until January 2026 for the full 23% pay rise ordered by the Fair Work Commission.
As at Stage 2, the government has asked that the commission phase in the increase over two years, from January 2025 and 2026, to prevent “large one-off wage increases” that it claims would add to workforce shortages elsewhere in the economy.
However, like most providers, Tom saw it differently.
“Increased wages will be invaluable for attracting much-needed workers into aged care. Any delays will only add to the workforce crisis in the sector," Tom told The SOURCE.
“We expect the Government to honour its pre-election commitment to fully fund the wage increases, as it did in Stage two of the FWC case.
"We see it as absolutely critical that the government funding commence from the operative date for these increases in wages.
“As we’ve been saying from the start, there are workforce shortages across aged care, disability and health. We understand that there needs to be consideration of this, and other issues, as the FWC goes through its processes," Tom said.
The Opposition and the unions involved have criticised the Government's attempt to phase in aged care worker pay rises over almost two years.
“This is another broken promise from the Albanese Labor Government," Shadow Aged Care Minister Anne Ruston told The SOURCE.
“This Government made a clear commitment to nurses and carers in aged care, a promise they are clearly now prepared to break.
“The Albanese Government would not need to worry about pulling workers from other areas if they had listened to the Coalition's calls for an urgent and comprehensive national workforce strategy for the entire care sector," said Senator Ruston.
“The Government must be fully transparent about why they have made this decision to delay the pay rise.”
Health unions have responded in anger to the government's submission.
“A phasing program will maintain more pressure on the sector as opposed to what’s really needed – to attract and retain [aged care workers]," Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes told the Australian Financial Review.
“We’re not talking about getting a few more people into the sector – we’re talking about stopping the hemorrhaging of people leaving,”
