Uniting Care Australia, with four aged care facilities on the Central Coast, has welcomed a 15 per cent wage rise for workers in the industry announced in last week’s Federal Budget, but will continue to agitate for further pay rises.
The budget’s $11.3B investment to fund a 15 per cent pay rise for aged care workers in line with the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) order for staff in the sector will begin in July, with the Government hoping the move will attract thousands more staff into aged care homes and help towards its promise of having nurses on duty 24/7 in all facilities.
Uniting caters for 295 residents at its Central Coast facilities: Starrett lodge at Hamlyn Terrace (80 beds); Nareen Lodge at Bateau Bay (32 beds – dementia care); Nareen Gardens nursing home at Bateau Bay (92 beds); and Nareen Gardens hostel at Bateau Bay (91 beds), with a total of 292 staff across all four centres.
Uniting NSW/ACT Chief Executive, Tracey Burton, said going beyond the current Fair Work Commission (FWC) order that a 15 per cent pay increase must be applied to aged care workers on three base awards from July 1 was ultimately a further decision for the Commission.
“The Commission has commenced work on stage three of the process where it will consider additional increases and application of the decision to other frontline staff in aged care,” she said.
“This, we believe, is desperately needed as a number of frontline aged care workers have missed out on an increase in the interim stage two decision.
“Uniting aged care employees are employed under the Uniting Aged Care Enterprise Agreements (with separate EAs for NSW and ACT).
“Under our EAs, all Uniting aged care employees are already paid above current modern award rates.
“Uniting advocated strongly for and paid higher than award wages through our EA well before the Aged Care Royal Commission recommended increased wages as we believe frontline aged care workers are under-valued.
“It is good news that the Government has increased funding to deliver higher rates of pay sustainably across the sector and better reward and value aged care employees.”
Burton said the funding boost of $11.3B would not only put more money in the pockets of workers but would also go a long way towards helping Uniting to meet and mend current funding shortfalls on the Central Coast, as well as across NSW and the ACT.
“This funding and more work on the longer-term financial viability of aged care, which was flagged in the budget, is needed if we are going be able to offer older people the quality support they rightly deserve and need,” she said.
UnitingCare Australia National Director, Claerwen Little, said the increase would help retain skilled workers and we reaffirmed the organisation’s pledge to pass the rise on to staff.
“UnitingCare Australia was the first national aged care body to publicly support a 25 per cent pay rise for workers in March 2022,” Little said.
“We boldly costed the ask and put our support behind our workforce.
“We firmly believe that all Australians should be afforded the opportunity to age to their full potential.
“Millions of Australians depend on the care sector every day to provide vital services that support individuals and communities to thrive.
“UnitingCare Australia made an individual submission to the Fair Work Commission wage case in February 2022 and has called for the wage increase to be fully funded by Government in the three Pre-Budget Submissions since then.”
Terry Collins