The aged care sector on the Central Coast is suffering a staff shortage, largely because of the lack of accommodation for workers, according to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).
CEDA says Australia must urgently step-up efforts to address the growing shortage of aged care workers as beds sit empty in homes around the country despite long waiting lists, with regions such as the Central Coast the hardest hit.
The third report in CEDA’s series on aged care, Duty of care: Aged-care sector running on empty, says aged care homes are now operating under capacity due to worker shortages, with some as low as 50 per cent capacity.
In Gosford, with a rental vacancy rate of just 2.36 per cent, the median rent would take up 53 per cent of an aged care worker award wage, the report says.
“This is for a typical level three aged care direct care worker earning the award wage of around $1,100 per week full time,” it says.
“An affordable rental (30 per cent of income) would cost around $330 per week.”
The report says extraordinarily low rental vacancy rates in most regional areas, including Gosford, are making it difficult for workers to move to the regions.
“A rental vacancy rate of three per cent is generally considered a balanced market, with current vacancy rates well below this,” it says.
CEDA Chief Economist Cassandra Winzar said new mandated staffing levels meant many facilities were operating well below full capacity because they couldn’t get enough workers and some had closed altogether.
“These staffing changes are important to increase the quality of care for older Australians, but they are adding pressure on providers already struggling to maintain their workforces and come on top of growing demand for home care services,” she said.
Previous CEDA research found there would be a shortfall of at least 110,000 direct care workers by 2030.
“Not enough has been done to fix this,” Winzar said.
“There must be more action from government to make meaningful progress on closing this workforce gap.”
She said aged care patients were being kept in hospitals because of the lack of available places in residential care.
“From December 2021 through to June 2022, the number of regional patients in NSW awaiting discharge to an aged care facility nearly tripled,” she said.
“There is no sign this trend has abated.
“Despite recent wage rises, many workers are finding it hard to remain in the sector at a time of stubbornly high inflation, and employers are unable to compete on pay and conditions.
“New labour agreements have proven hard to implement and are insufficient for broad application across the industry.”
CEDA suggests the following measures to help address the staff shortages: recruiting personal care workers directly by introducing a new “essential skills visa” to allow workers to migrate with long-term residency opportunities; introducing a user pays system for aged care clients who meet certain income or asset thresholds, to help ensure the long-term viability of the sector; and prioritising key worker housing in regional areas under the national Housing Accord and looking at options for rental assistance such as the National Rental Affordability Scheme.
“Funding for the sector, through a mix of increased government and personal contributions, will have to rise to ensure we can provide high quality care to older Australians,” Winzar said.
“Without further action, we will be unable to provide the care the community rightfully expects.”
Source:
CEDA