AUSTRALIA | An investment of AUD 2.6 billion will help support the aged care sector with another 60,000 nurses across the country.
In an attempt to boost the Australian aged care sector, the Australian Federal Government has announced it will invest a further AUD 2.6 billion to deliver another pay rise for 60,000 aged care nurses across Australia.
This has the government’s total investment in support of award wage increases for aged care workers to AUD 17.7 billion.
This funding will support aged care providers to meet the Fair Work Commission’s Aged Care Work Value Case decision to increase award wages for registered and enrolled nurses caring for older people in Australia.
This decision will result in registered and enrolled nurses seeing their award wage increase by an average of around 12 percent. These increases will be provided in three largely equal instalments, beginning in March 2025 and followed by October 2025 and August 2026.
The Albanese Labor Government has also committed to pay rises for workers to ensure the aged care sector delivers a higher standard of care for older Australians.
Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said the package has already had a positive impact on retention and recruitment in the sector and relieved the cost of living pressures for essential aged-care workers.
“Aged care nurses are experts in their field, and they deserve to be rewarded for the crucial role they play in delivering safe and quality care to older people in Australia,” said Minister Wells.
“Under a decade of Coalition governments, aged care workers, who are predominantly women, were systemically underpaid and undervalued. That ended with the Albanese Labor Government.”
Minister Wells added that since 2022, a registered nurse who was on level 2, pay point 3 will have seen their award-wage rate increase by around AUD 430 per week, an increase of more than AUD 22,000 a year. An enrolled nurse who was on pay point 2 will have seen their award wage increase by around AUD 370 per week, an increase of more than AUD 19,000 a year.
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt, said that increasing the award wages for aged care nurses was part of the government’s mandate to rebuild the aged care workforce and close the gender pay gap.
“We are focused on making sure aged care nurses are paid fairly and are valued for their important work,” said Minister Watt.
“This is another example of the Albanese Government’s actions to get wages moving again, which have seen Australians’ wages rising above inflation for five quarters in a row.”
The Government also announced a further investment of AUD 300 million in infrastructure grants to support residential aged care services in regional, rural and remote locations, with a new round of the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program. This funding will help ensure that older people can access quality and safe aged care services, regardless of where they live.
Grants can be used by residential aged care providers for a range of purposes – from upgrades, extensions and new builds to delivering purpose-built staff accommodation.
Providers located in all regional, rural and remote areas (MM 2 to 7) can apply. Grants are also available to help specialist providers build and improve services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in any location, including major cities (MM 1).
The Albanese Government continues to invest funding at unprecedented levels to support providers outside of major cities to provide older people with more comfortable and modern amenities, more liveable spaces and more appropriate cultural care.
Last year, the government delivered AUD 385 million in funding under Rounds 1 and 2, supporting 128 infrastructure projects nationwide, mostly in regional, rural and remote locations.
Wells said this funding was also about building thriving, prosperous communities, with funded projects generating new job opportunities across the construction and care sectors.
“Older people should be able to access the care they need, regardless of where they live or what services they need. This AUD 300 million funding package will improve access to quality aged care from the regions to the bush, and for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities nationwide.”
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