Southern Downs aged care workers committed to helping older members of community

With the introduction of new minimum wage awards, BlueCare Queensland has announced a further pay increase for all of its aged care workers, including the many dedicated staff at the Southern Downs community respite centres. Read their inspiring stories here.

For a Southern Downs aged care worker, giving back to the older community has seen a fulfilling and rewarding 28 year endeavour.

BlueCare Warwick personal care worker Marjorie Adams will reach her 28th year of service at the regional respite centre in October.

Mrs Adams has remained devoted to the aged care sector, which has in recent years been at the height of both public and political scrutiny amid the 2021 Royal Commission.

Her passion for helping others and those most vulnerable has been the motivation to continue in a sector that’s seen a constant fluctuation in staff retention.

A poem which was dedicated to Mrs Adams by a client in the early days of her career will feature in BlueCare’s 70th anniversary booklet, showcasing the positive impact both she and the respite centre have had on the community it services.

'Your Hands' was dedicated to BlueCare Warwick personal care worker Marjorie Adams by client Eleanor Clark as a tribute to the outstanding care of both Marjorie and the centre.

BlueCare made the recent announcement to adopt a further pay increase for their aged care workers on top of the recent government change to minimum wages.

Aged care workers will see an additional more than 5 per cent increase in their wages to signify their contributions and efforts to the growing sector.

BlueCare Warwick care coordinator Ross Murray said the company’s additional pay increase for all aged care workers would feature as an incentive to entice more people to enter the industry.

“It’s going to help so much with retaining good staff members and attracting staff members as well,” he said.

Mr Murray said the community respite centre has been fortunate enough to not have faced the staff retention issues other aged care facilities have.

“Our area hasn’t been so bad for turnover, but I know aged care wide is really bad for staff turnover,” he said.

“The average age of a community aged care worker is 58, so we have a lot of staff members who are getting towards their retirement age as well.”

The staff and clients of BlueCare Warwick celebrate 70 years of BlueCare services in Queensland.

Historically, for personal care workers and health care workers holding qualifications levels at and below the Certificate III were marginally underpaid.

Prior to the recent pay increase, Mr Murray said the hourly rate for a permanent part-time personal care worker in Queensland was roughly $23.

Combined with the recent federal government‘s 15 per cent minimum wage increase, BlueCare’s aged care workers will see a total pay increase of 20 per cent.

One of BlueCare Warwick’s newest personal care workers Tracy Mcrae said she had no regrets since making a significant career change from the corporate and finance world to aged care.

Working towards completing a Certificate III in aged care, Mrs Mcrae said the work-life balance the sector provides was the driving force behind the catapult in career change.

“I really needed something I was passionate about and would fit in with school hours and that was also fulfilling,” she said.

Mrs Mcrae said working with the respite centre’s elderly clients has been a rewarding and joyful experience.

“It’s just really fulfilling the stories you hear from them and learning about where they grew up to where they are now,” she said.

As with many jobs in the aged and healthcare industries, there’s the unrelenting prospect of losing a client due to sickness or ageing which can be quite confronting for staff.

“I’ve had a client pass away already and I probably wasn’t as prepared for that, because you do build that rapport with them,” she said.

“The way I look at it is that hopefully I was at least able to fulfil a certain part of their needs as they’ve gotten older and be part of their journey.”

Mrs Mcrae said keeping an open mind is the most valuable advice she would give to anything thinking of making the jump into the aged care sector.

Mrs Mcrae moved to the Southern Downs with her family earlier in the year to help care for her elderly parents.