Labor limbers up for poll with$2.6bn more for aged-care nurses

The Albanese government has announced $2.6bn to fund pay raises for 60,000 aged-care ­nurses, in the next step of a health-focused pre-election campaign.

Labor says the announcement takes its spending on aged-care wages to $17.7bn.

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The Albanese government has announced $2.6bn to fund pay raises for 60,000 aged-care ­nurses, in line with a Fair Work Commission decision, in the next step of a health-focused pre-election campaign.

It brings total spending for award wage increases for aged-care workers to $17.7bn, Labor says. It comes amid a flurry of pledges, announcements and media ­appearances as parties prepare for an announcement on the timing of the federal election.

Liberal Party director Andrew Hirst on Monday wrote to Labor secretary Paul Erickson asking for four debates between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, to be held on Sky News, Channel 9, Channel 7 and the ABC.

The Opposition Leader also criticised Labor’s Medicare ­urgent care clinics – healthcare has been a central theme of electioneering in the last two weeks – accusing Labor of “pork-barrelling” after The Australian revealed two in three of the 87 clinics delivered so far had been in Labor seats.

The latest $2.6bn funding injection for aged-care nurses will increase the average registered and enrolled nurse’s pay by about 12 per cent, the government said. The increases would be provided across instalments in March 2025, October 2025 and August 2026.

More than $2bn of the ­announced increase had been ­allocated previously in budget documents. Spending on aged care is the fifth-largest area of expenditure in the budget. It comes amid chronic workforce shortages and historically low wages.

Anthony Albanese campaigning among aged-care nurses in 9022 as opposition leader. Picture Instagram

The Fair Work Commission had already ruled on – and the government had accounted for – pay increases for other aged-care workers such as personal care staff and nursing assistants. The case was originally brought by the Health Services Union in 2020.

“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,” Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said.

“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.

“Under the Albanese Labor government, registered nurses working in aged care on the award wage are $430 a week better off, and enrolled nurses are $370 a week better off. Our government has delivered better award wages to recognise the value of all aged-care workers to lift the standard of aged care in Australia.”

Employment Minister Murray Watt said it was “part of the government’s mandate to rebuild our 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,” he said.

“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.”

Separately, Mr Dutton on Monday demanded “more detail” on the Albanese government’s Medicare urgent care clinics after The Australian’s analysis showed that two in three of the 87 delivered so far had been in Labor seats and that almost every marginal Labor electorate had received one or had been promised one.

“There’s no question that Labor’s pork-barrelling,” he said.

“Have a look at the map as to where these clinics have gone. We need more detail on the decision-making process that the government’s entered into, and we need to make sure that taxpayers’ money is being spent effectively.”

Health Minister Mark Butler accused Mt Dutton of a “beat-up”.

“He ignores the fact that about 15 of these clinics are on a very small basis,” he said. “That is, small clinics in the Northern Territory and the ACT make up a big part of that. It’s a particular approach we’ve taken in the territories, particularly in the NT.

“Fifteen of the 87 are in the territories, and no Liberal holds any seat in that area of Australia. There are about 14 or 15 clinics from a separate negotiation conducted by national cabinet, where the NSW and Victorian governments transferred their clinics over to us. They were not the subject of the usual site selection that we conduct in our program.

“If you strip aside those anomalies, about half of the clinics that have been selected by us, through our program outside the territories, are Labor-held seats, and half are non-Labor-held seats.”