Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. On Friday, the Fair Work Commission awarded a 15 per cent pay rise for aged-care workers. How does this put security, dignity and humanity back into the aged-care system for workers and older Australians?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for his question and acknowledge his service as an emergency department doctor over the years. He knows very well the importance of our election commitments, like 24/7 nurses back into residential aged care to take the pressure off our acute system and people like him in emergency departments across the country. I am confident that aged-care workers like Aditi and Taina at Aurrum Terrigal are grateful that he is there fighting in their corner.

And fighting we are, because, after only five months in office, we have now addressed 37 recommendations of the royal commission into aged care—37 of 148—compared with only nine of 148 that were addressed by the previous government in 15 long months, during which aged-care workers were crying out for assistance. Now, on Friday, aged-care workers had this result, and I want to thank those workers and all of the people who supported them—the families, the sector, the people in this place who have fought for a pay rise for aged-care workers for so very long—for bearing with us. It is hugely welcome; it is desperately needed, because a key part of the Albanese government's commitment to fixing the crisis in aged care is our steadfast support for the skilled and dedicated aged-care workforce who stand among our frontline pandemic heroes.

I'd specifically like to recognise our home-care workers who will receive this 15 per cent interim pay rise. They drive from home to home, often unpaid, trying to support and prioritise huge client loads. These workers play such an important part in helping people maintain their dignity and their independence as they want to age at home. So, prior to the election, we promised to support a meaningful pay rise for them and for people in residential aged care and, within weeks of being sworn into government, we delivered on that promise, and now, just five months into government, we have this decision: a meaningful pay rise and a very important first step.

We welcome Fair Work's interim decision to increase wages of direct care workers in both home and residential care by 15 per cent. Working in aged care is difficult. It is physically and emotionally demanding, and it is skilled work. Then you had COVID, which made everything 10 times worse. In May 2021, I and many of us on this side of the House met with Jude, whom you might remember for her fabulous pink hair. She said to us that she loves 'the work that you do, but love does not pay the bills'. It is for people like Jude that we have been fighting. It is for people like Jude that we will continue to fight, as this is step 1 of a three-step process to keep this process going.

I also acknowledge Teresa, a home-care worker whom many of us have seen in this place fighting for a pay rise for people like the colleagues that she wants to support. She can't afford to do the job that she loves. She can't afford to pay for the petrol to fill the tank to drive from home to home as a home-care worker. This 15 per cent interim pay rise will bring some relief to her and allow her to keep doing the job that she loves. That is the right thing to do; it's also the smart thing to do because we need to bring workers back into the aged-care workforce. We need to fill the staff shortages after nine years of neglect. (Time expired)