The Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells has admitted the residential aged care sector is still “thousands” short of the 1 July 2023 election promise to have Registered Nurses on site 24/7.

The Minister told the ABC that “the workforce shortages we won’t be able to stop overnight.”

"More than 80 per cent are meeting that goal” of 24/7 RNs on site, and 9% are “very close to it, and working diligently to get there by July 1,” the Minister told Sky News.

“We also know there’s probably about five per cent out there, particularly in our rural and remote areas, that will not meet it.”

She estimates 5% will be eligible for exemptions.

“Workforce is the biggest issue for us in aged care and any report will tell you that we’re thousands short of where we need to be, particularly if we want to lift the standard of care,” the Minister told the ABC.

“I’m working really closely with a number of other Ministers across every portfolio we’re looking at how to address the care economy and how to fix workforce shortages in the care economy.”

To help attract workers to the sector, the Government is funding a 15% pay rise for aged care workers, expanding the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme (PALM) and offering fee-free TAFE places for aged care training, the Minister listed.

“We’re pulling every lever,” she said.

The Minister wouldn’t be drawn on an exact number of staff shortages but said it was in the thousands.

A spokesperson for the Minister recently told The SOURCE that the 2023-24 forecast gap for RNs is 8,400 and 13,300 for personal care workers.

Ciaran Foley, CEO of Allambie Heights Village, told The SOURCE that “at last” the Government was accepting the reality of the staffing situation.

“We have been expressing this position for months,” he said.