Need for a long-lasting aged care funding strategy – E Tu

E tū is calling for the government to include unions and their workforce representatives in any new strategy to transform the care and support sector.

The Government’s appointed Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group report, released today, makes recommendations for better pay, training, culturally safe care, and union engagement in the sector. This is applauded.

However, E tū says the report falls short of providing a pathway to a transformed sector. Home support worker and E tū member Tamara Baddeley says “While we welcome today’s report, is still does not address the systems issues in the sector, of low pay, unsafe staff levels and worker churn or turnover.

“If pay equity and safe staffing were actually seen as important pieces of the puzzle, the solutions would be legislated for, funded accordingly, with open discussion with the workers, unions, and employers in the sector to address workforce turnover.”

“The health care workforce needs pay equity, safe staffing levels and a reformed in-between travel system, so workers are not subsidising their employers.”

E tū Director Amy Hansen says that parties across the political spectrum need to come together to address the failures in the aged care system for the people who do the caring as well and those who receive the care.

“This is about so much more than party policy, these are real and vulnerable peoples’ lives at stake.”

Amy says E tū has been calling to ‘transform care’ in three key areas:

“You cannot build a lasting care system without the people who do the caring,” Amy says.

“If the Government is serious about getting this right, it’s time it stopped talking about this workforce and started building the future of care alongside them.”