Industry peaks and unions have welcomed the Fair Work Commission’s interim decision to hand aged care workers a 15% pay rise, but say more needs to be done to support the workforce.
The FWC said last Friday it would raise wages for direct care workers only by 15%, leaving out administrative and support staff; however, this is only an interim ruling, and the Commission says further pay rises, as well as increases for non-direct-care staff, are still under consideration.
Tom Symondson (pictured), CEO of Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA), noted the exclusion of administrative and support staff from the decision and said the peak body is “looking forward to a further decision” addressing this.
“ACCPA has been engaged with the work value case since late 2020 and we are delighted that the federal government has committed to fully fund the pay increase for aged care workers resulting from this case.
“We look forward to working with the relevant unions and the government on the implementation and timing of this important decision so that funding from the government flows at the same time as the pay increase,” he said.
Catholic Health Australia (CHA) has said that support staff need a pay rise to stop them leaving the aged care sector; CHA Aged Care Director Jason Kara (pictured) said better wages and conditions are “key to attracting and retaining workers”.
“The Commission has not yet decided on whether around 100,000 administration and support workers will also receive a pay rise, and if so, how much. These workers are critical to delivering quality aged care and deserve a pay rise.
“CHA supports immediately passing increases on and delivering a much-needed boost to the workforce. We look forward to the Government delivering on its promise to fully fund the wage increase,” he said.
Gerard Hayes, National President of the Health Services Union (pictured), also called for a larger and broader increase.
“This is a reasonable start but we need the Commission to go further and permanently end the poverty wage settings that dominate aged care.
“For the last decade this industry has relied on the goodwill of an exploited, casualised workforce. Today represents progress, but the legal, political and industrial fight continues.
“We won’t rest until we get some semblance of decency and sustainability into aged care,” he said.
