Three months after the Federal Government announced two pro-rata payments of up to $400 each for aged care workers, only around half of those eligible have received them.
In a Senate Estimates hearing last Wednesday, Dr Nick Hartland from the Department of Health (pictured) revealed that 945 applications have been received from providers, with 499 applications worth about $55 million in total approved as at 4 April.
However, this would cover only 95,000 of the estimated 255,000 eligible workers in the sector, though Dr Hartland did estimate that by the end of last week around 133,000 workers would be covered.
“That’s not all workers in the sector. It was focused on people providing direct care,” he told the committee.
Workers are scheduled to receive the second of the two $400 payments in May, though only direct care workers with more than 30 hours per week are eligible for the full $800.
Providers are required to apply for the grants, and encouraged to pay their workers the bonuses as soon as they make the claim.
