Labor misleading Australians over aged care: Coalition

A leading aged care expert has warned thousands of elderly Australians face having their aged care services cut under the federal government’s wages policy

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells. Picture: Patrick Woods

A leading aged care expert has warned thousands of elderly Australians face having their aged care services cut under the federal government’s wages policy.

Former head of the peak aged care body, Paul Sadler, questioned why residential and home care packages were being given “favourable” treatment under Anthony Albanese’s funding deal, compared to operators providing part-time services through the Commonwealth Home Support Program.

Former Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive Paul Sadler.

He warned operators of commonwealth home support programs may be forced to cut staff due to a lack of funding from the government, which would lead to some elderly Australians having their support cut off.

About 850,000 elderly Australians currently receive services under the Commonwealth Home Support Program, compared to 200,000 living in residential aged care facilities.

In The Australian last week, Uniting Care Australia national director Claerwen Little said the federal government’s new wages policy would create a two-tiered system, disadvantaging workers who provide part-time care for elderly people living at home.

Under Labor’s policy, the wages of 5000 workers who specialise in “entry-level” support for older people would receive less government funding than wages for workers providing more intense levels of home care support or nurses in residential aged care.

The pay discrepancy for workers between aged-care services has blindsided providers, after Labor promised a 15 per cent increase in wages for aged-care workers across both residential and homecare services.

Mr Sadler said there was inequity in how the funding programs were being treated.

“The process for the home support sector is not transparently allowing them to fully fund the wage increases,” Mr Sadler said.

“There is the potential that if a Commonwealth Home Support Program can’t afford to offer these staff the higher pay rate then maybe it will result in a loss of services for some … clients.”

Opposition aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston accused Labor of misleading Australians over its promise to boost aged care wages by 15 per cent. Senator Ruston said the government must urgently guarantee that all workers eligible for a pay rise would have it fully funded by the commonwealth as promised.

“It appears that the minister has misled Australia’s dedicated aged care workers, particularly those who provide critical care to older Australians in their own home,” she said.

“This government promised to fully fund a pay raise for all aged care workers, and now this appears to be another broken promise.”

A spokesman for Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said the government was providing funding for all aged care workers to meet the 15 per cent increase to the award minimum wage. The spokesman would not comment directly on lower pay increases for workers in the Commonwealth Home Support Program.

With the government set to sell its cost-of-living policies this week, Ms Wells said the $11.3bn investment would “improve the safety of older Australians and help close the gender pay gap as more than 85 per cent of the aged care workforce are female”.

Australian College of Nurses chief executive Kylie Ward said pay discrepancies across different funding arrangements for wage rises had the potential to make some nurses feel undervalued and called on the government to ensure workers were paid fairly.

“I want to see an environment where nurses are cared for and earning the same pay.”