‘Ethically corrupt language’: Parties row over cost of 24/7 nursing in aged care

Older Australians are being promised $456.1 million in new spending over four years in a Labor pledge to guarantee care from qualified nurses in aged care homes 24 hours a day, in an election row over a Coalition policy that funds the same care for only 16 hours.

The difference became a full-blown policy clash on Wednesday after the Coalition claimed it would deliver the 24-hour target but was swiftly attacked by Labor for misleading voters when government documents show it has not mentioned or funded the target.

Labor’s Clare O’Neil accused the government of “just out-and-out lying” when it said it had accepted the royal commission’s recommendation for nurses in aged care 24/7.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“The government is just out-and-out lying,” said Labor aged care spokeswoman Clare O’Neil.

A Coalition spokesman responded by saying Labor should explain how many nurses it would need to deliver on its promise.

“We have a plan to deliver it putting $3.9 billion against introducing 16-hour nursing staff on site and a plan to train more staff over the next two years as a transition towards 24-hour, seven-day-a-week care,” the spokesman said.

The clash came after Labor leader Anthony Albanese emphasised the importance of aged care in the election campaign by claiming nursing home residents were “literally starving” due to federal neglect.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston.Credit: James Brickwood

Labor accused the Coalition of lying after Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the government backed a call from the royal commission into aged care last year to ensure residents had access to nurses around the clock.

“We have accepted the recommendation of the royal commission for nursing staff to be on premises 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Senator Ruston told Sky News.

“But we also accepted the royal commission’s recommendation that it would take us until 2024 to be able to do this in a way that didn’t have detrimental and consequential impacts on other areas of the healthcare sector that rely on our nursing staff.”

The government’s budget documents show it is funding nursing care for 16 hours each day in response to two major findings on staff levels in recommendation 86 of the royal commission’s final report.

The first element was to require aged care homes to have registered nurses, enrolled nurses, and personal care workers for at least 200 minutes per resident a day for the average resident, with at least 40 minutes provided by a registered nurse.

The second was to make sure homes had at least one registered nurse on site per residential aged care facility for the morning and afternoon shifts, covering 16 hours a day.

The government formally accepted this recommendation and funded the care for 16 hours each day in the May 2021 budget as part of a $17.7 billion package. The government response to the royal commission did not mention care for 24 hours.

Labor went further in its response to this year’s budget when Albanese pledged $2.5 billion to ensure more nurses and better food quality in homes.

O’Neil said the government had never said it would deliver 24/7 nursing because the stated policy was only 16 hours.

“They are using ethically corrupt language to try to convince people they have a policy they have never stated before,” she said.

“If they want to change the policy, fine, but let’s at least be honest about what each party is proposing on aged care.”

The Labor pledge costs $456.1 million over four years for a measure costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office to ensure nurses were available for 24 hours rather than 16 hours. This is part of the wider $2.5 billion Labor policy announced on March 31.

“There is a crisis in this country and that’s what this election is about,” Albanese said in a series of heated remarks about aged care during a campaign doorstop in Brisbane on Wednesday.

“This election is about whether we have a government that looks after people, or whether we have Scott Morrison who goes missing, who goes missing unless there’s a photo op.”

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