Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Our aged-care workforce has done exceptional work at the front line of the coronavirus pandemic. Their job is among the hardest of all frontline workers. In March, coronavirus was predicted to take the lives of thousands of aged-care residents. Aged-care providers put in place tough visitation rules to protect lives, and this has caused immeasurable sadness for both residents and workers—sadness but a necessary precaution. In the end, though, it is an aged-care worker who is telling a husband, a daughter, a grandson—a great-grandson in that case—that they can't visit the ones they love. That is a very difficult job.

Our aged-care workers have been patient, compassionate and professional during this difficult time. Residents reported high levels of stress and confusion, aware of how vulnerable they were. News stories about outbreaks in aged-care facilities stoked fears. Rigorous social distancing and hygiene requirements made everything slower and so much more difficult. There are easier and safer ways to make a living than working in aged care. Our workforce could have quit, but this would have been disastrous in a sector already suffering entrenched chronic understaffing, not to mention losing continuity of care—so important to wellbeing.

It has been spoken about already, but I will add my voice to it too. The retention bonus announced in March was intended to keep workers in their roles through the worst of the crisis. We know our aged-care workforce isn't do 'it' just to make a buck, but the payments of up to $800 for residential aged-care workers and $600 for home-care workers for two quarters was a welcome acknowledgement of their hard work in really tough circumstances. In March, the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians said that this payment would be after tax—he actually emailed me to tell me this—but last week we discovered that it will be before tax. This backflip isn't just a minor accounting error. According to the peak body LASA, a typical aged-care worker will lose at least 30 per cent of the retention bonus due to this change.

This is a really appalling reversal of an initiative that won widespread support from the sector when it was announced. The reasons for the reversal aren't clear. With women making up 87 per cent of residential care services and 89 per cent of in-home care services, it's women who, yet again, are bearing the brunt of this change. We have a perverse situation where the JobKeeper payment has made some 17- to 18-year-olds, who before the pandemic only did a couple of shifts a week, rather rich indeed, while a small bonus—just a small one—is being clawed back from one of the most underpaid and casualised workforces in Australia, from people, mainly women, who have actually earned it. It's not too late to fix this. The retention bonus opens today, and I call on the minister to honour his original commitment.

The pandemic has also thrown into sharp relief the understaffing of aged-care facilities. From my time on the board of St Catherine's Hostel in Wangaratta, I know that our workforce does incredible work with dedication, compassion and care. But across the sector there are simply not enough adequately skilled staff. According to research published in The Medical Journal of Australia, 60 per cent of residents are living in aged-care homes with unacceptable staffing levels. This is neglect with deadly consequences. Indeed, the interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety told a shocking tale of neglect and an underpaid, undervalued workforce, and it is for these people that this retention bonus is so important. On only my fourth day in this place, I supported the member for Mayo's bill calling for mandatory disclosure of staffing ratios. This will help families and older Australians make more informed choices about the facilities they consider. The member for Mayo's 2018 bill was supported by the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport.

In the wake of the 'black summer' bushfires, I've seen that it is older people who are leading our recovery. They're the backbone of our local community organisations. They volunteer with the Red Cross, BlazeAid, the CWA and emergency food services, and sometimes it's simply their moral strength and wisdom gained over many years which bring so much comfort to our communities. In return, we owe older Australians, and those charged with their care, respect and dignity and our appreciation.

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