Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Whilst Labor do not oppose the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 and related bills, what I think is important in this debate is to highlight the unfair cuts that are going on in the aged-care sector by this government. Labor oppose funding cuts to the sector—cuts which are also another broken promise. These cuts mainly go to the development and retention of the workforce, a workforce which is going through significant change to try to meet the demands of the sector, a workforce which at the moment is largely low paid yet has high skills.

This sector is in a workforce crisis at the moment because there is no retention system in place to ensure that quality aged-care staff stay in the sector. The staff say that it is not because of a lack of love for the job because they love working in the sector; it is the low pay that they receive that becomes a disincentive to stay. The staff also say that the workload involved continues to increase and this workload will continue to increase even more as a result of the funding cuts by this government.

Central to the former Labor government's plan for the Living Longer, Living Better package was a $1.2 billion workforce supplement to improve the pay and conditions, and enhance the training and career structures of those working in the sector. It was aimed at addressing a growing need for workers in the aged-care sector, which suffers from a high turnover, low pay and poor work conditions, and faces increased demand for staff in the future. This is an issue that is not just relevant to the metropolitan areas; it is across the whole of Australia. Some of our regional electorates will be hit the hardest by these cuts because it is the regions where we have high proportions of our residents becoming older and where fewer and fewer of our young people are staying to live. The challenge to get people to live in the regions, just like in every other care sector, continues to be a major problem.

The aged-care workforce has had a very high turnover and features some of Australia's lowest paid workers. These are not just my words; this is the research and the basic facts. The $1.2 billion workforce supplement was going to deliver pay rises for some of the 350,000 aged-care workers, people who earn very little—nurses who are paid less than those who work in hospitals, people who dedicate their lives to ensuring that our older Australians have the quality care and the dignity that they deserve in their final years.

The new aged-care workforce compact that was introduced by the former Labor government was an important step to ensure that Australia had a professional workforce, essential to building a quality aged-care system for older Australians. Labor acknowledged in government that if you want to have a quality aged-care sector that met the demands of the community, you needed a well-paid, well-funded, aged-care workforce. From 1 July 2013, aged-care workers employed by providers who met the conditions of the aged-care workforce compact were going to receive better pay and conditions through an associated workforce supplement. It was the former Labor government that acknowledged that governments have a role to play in partnering with the sector and the community to ensure that the people working in that sector were high quality and well paid. Whether it be a hospital, an aged-care facility, a child-care facility or a school, government needs to acknowledge it has a role to play in ensuring that staff are well paid and well trained, and that there are well-funded facilities for them to work in.

The compact was a good start for those working in the sector and it supported some of the most vulnerable workers, up to 90 per cent of whom are women and over the age of 45 and working part time. The reform by the former Labor government and the workforce supplement was going to help some of our lowest paid workers—women over the age of 45, part time, the very same demographic that this government is hitting in other parts of the budget. Again, it is another broken promise by this government.

The former Labor government worked with industry and the community to ensure that they had jobs that they could count on for women working in this sector. Yet what we have seen from this government is not only an attack on their working conditions but also an attack on almost every other aspect of the household budget. Whether it be fuel, family tax benefit or any number of budget measures introduced by this government, they are going after the exact same workers who will be affected as a result of funding cuts this government will make to the sector.

The aged-care workforce is one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy, as our ageing population continues to grow, particularly in regional areas like my electorate of Bendigo. But over this decade, Australia faces a shortage of just over 100,000 aged-care workers. The core problem has been poor wages and working conditions for this profession. Melanie O'Gorman, an aged care worker and United Voice member, said:

As aged care workers, we're dealing with people's lives and their families.

We want to give our clients the dignity they deserve but it's hard with high staff turnover, low pay and poor working conditions.

I love my job and I want to be respected for the important work I do. This Compact is a step in the right direction.

These are Melanie's words. She loves the job, she loves the sector, yet because of low pay, her colleagues have considered leaving the sector, as has she. There are other attacks from this government in this year's budget. Axing the aged care payroll tax supplement is another blow for for-profit aged care providers. The sector is reeling from the cessation of the aged care payroll tax supplement from 1 January 2015, worth $653 million over four years. This government is so narrow sighted. They just think of their own bottom line; they do not think of the impact their cuts will have within the broader community. The affect will be that providers will need to recoup this saving by increasing accommodation charges. Pressure will be put on bargaining outcomes for a workforce that is already suffering from high turnover. Further the cuts will erode the capacity of the sector to increase staffing levels and pay and conditions for some of the nation's lowest paid workers. This is just a silly decision. In many ways it is a tax on workers and it is a tax on jobs.

The workforce continues to be in crisis. In Bendigo, we had a recent example of what is going on in one of our facilities. Health Workers Union members recently rallied at the 50-bed Golden Square aged care facility. They protested with family members, raising their concern about AdventCare leaving residents with unqualified staff providing medication to residents during the night shift. The workers say that this is because of funding cuts, because the facility is trying to break even and simply cannot afford to hire the qualified staff they need. This sector will be in crisis if we do not address funding and the need for a well-qualified and well-paid workforce.

The solution is not 457 visas or overseas workers. Some have suggested, 'That's fine. We'll just bring in overseas workers.' More and more Australian nurses and midwives will be left without jobs because of the loosening of restrictions for overseas workers, which this government is planning to introduce. Recently, The Australian reported that 457 visa foreign workers, including nurses, would be able to be employed on salaries of up to 10 per cent less than the salary of Australians working in the sector. That is not going to lessen the crisis we have in aged care. We will improve the aged care crisis not by bringing in cheaper overseas exploited labour but by funding the sector properly, ensuring that workers in the sector receive decent pay and conditions, lifting this sector to be a quality sector which is on par with our hospitals and with the health and ageing sector.

The ANMF does not support the use of temporary migrant labour at the expense of Australian nursing graduates who are not only fully qualified but are ready, willing and able to work. I agree with the ANMF. We need to ensure, if we have qualified staff ready to work that yes, there is a position available to them and yes, it will be at an appropriate wage with appropriate conditions. Australian nurses should be offered the jobs first before bringing in overseas workers. Furthermore, I agree that we should not be creating the competition in the workplace where an organisation has the option of either hiring an Australian nurse or an overseas worker at 10 per cent less.

If this government wants to make it easier for employers to hire overseas workers on cheaper wages, we will see the creation of an underclass of workers receiving less for doing the same work. That is fundamentally unfair and it should not be allowed to happen. If graduates walk away from nursing, Australia will suffer an entire lost generation of highly-educated health professionals. It will continue to be a problem for this country. This is just unacceptable.

The solution goes back to one of the points I made at the beginning. Central to the Living Longer Living Better package is a well-paid, qualified professional workforce. We have people going into nursing degrees who will come out qualified and ready to work. We need to ensure that the jobs available for them are respectful of their skills and qualifications and receive pay at an appropriate rate. For aged care facilities to do that, government needs to partner with them to ensure they have the funding.

I would like to highlight other concerns which have been raised with me. Recently, a number of people have spoken to me about problems they are experiencing as advocates in the sector. Home care packages and the government's changes mean clients are given more choice, which is a good thing, improving flexibility and improved services for the clients. They said that while this is a good thing, the problem that they were experiencing locally is that because of cutbacks in Centrelink and DHS services they cannot get their applications assessed. They have people in our electorate, in Bendigo, waiting and wanting and ready to go into aged care spaces where there are beds available but they are stuck in the processing of their applications, they are stuck in the Centrelink queue. This is a problem that can only be resolved by increasing the number of people working in DHS to resolve this backlog. They talk about the need for government to continue to partner when it comes to building new facilities and making sure that we have that co-investment available. These are just some of the local issues that have been raised.

The Australian population is undergoing a profound change. Yes, we are all living longer. Yes, there is a baby boom about to retire; and yes, they say it will fall to my generation to pick up the tab. I disagree. We can legislate in this House now. We can invest in funding now to ensure that we are ready to meet those challenges. That means restoring the workforce supplement. That means investing in the people whom we require to work in this sector for the long term.

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