WHY DOES IMPROVING AGED CARE SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA MATTER?
Improving the quality of care for older generations is a social imperative as well as an economic one. The sector receives more than $22 billion of government funding each year, supports more than 1.3 million people receiving some form of care service and employs more than 360,000 people. The aged care workforce continues to face significant pressures of staff shortages, low pay and poor working conditions.
Given the immediate nature of the workforce challenge, CEDA advocates for actions that will boost the workforce in the short term, while continuing to improve long term outcomes.
NEW CEDA REPORT OUT NOW
Duty of care: Aged-care sector running on empty is the third report in CEDA’s series on the workforce challenge facing Australia’s aged-care sector.
This report outlines the causes and flow-on effects of the worker shortage, in particular low wages, a lack of affordable housing and the impact on the healthcare system.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To meet the aged-care challenge we must take steps to boost the workforce in the short term, while continuing to improve longer-term workforce outcomes. CEDA’s first Duty of Care report set out a comprehensive list of recommendations to address worker shortages. We should prioritise the following measures.
Essential skills visa for personal-care workers
Recruit personal-care workers directly by introducing a new “essential skills visa” to allow workers to migrate with long-term residency opportunities. This visa would only be for areas of critical need such as aged care, childcare, disability and healthcare.
User-pays system with income or asset thresholds
Introduce 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.
Address nationwide housing shortages
Additionally, we must address the nationwide housing shortage to allow essential workers to live near their workplace. We must prioritise key worker housing in regional areas under the national Housing Accord and look at options for rental assistance such as the National Rental Affordability Scheme.
Essential skills visa for personal-care workers
Recruit personal-care workers directly by introducing a new “essential skills visa” to allow workers to migrate with long-term residency opportunities. This visa would only be for areas of critical need such as aged care, childcare, disability and healthcare.
User-pays system with income or asset thresholds
Introduce 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.
Address nationwide housing shortages
Additionally, we must address the nationwide housing shortage to allow essential workers to live near their workplace. We must prioritise key worker housing in regional areas under the national Housing Accord and look at options for rental assistance such as the National Rental Affordability Scheme.
“To meet any of the strategies, or visions, that we have for a really high-quality, high-performing aged-care sector that is going to contribute to our society and give older Australians the care that they deserve and that we as a community want to give them, we can’t do that without more workers. This is really challenging to achieve and we are not achieving it yet.”
CEDA CHIEF ECONOMIST, CASSANDRA WINZAR
“To meet any of the strategies, or visions, that we have for a really high-quality, high-performing aged-care sector that is going to contribute to our society and give older Australians the care that they deserve and that we as a community want to give them, we can’t do that without more workers. This is really challenging to achieve and we are not achieving it yet.”
CEDA CHIEF ECONOMIST, CASSANDRA WINZAR
WHERE HAVE WE SEEN PROGRESS?
Since CEDA has released the 2021 Duty of Care report, we have seen the following progress based on our policy recommendations.
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DUTY OF CARE: AGED CARE IN CRISIS
In 2022, CEDA's research report, Duty of care: Aged care sector in crisis, found the annual staff shortage has doubled in less than a year – escalating from 17,000 to 35,000 due to a combination of challenging pandemic driven circumstances and a lack of action by governments.
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DUTY OF CARE: MEETING THE AGED CARE WORKFORCE CHALLENGE
Australians deserve to age with dignity, but this will remain in jeopardy without adequate workforce planning and urgent action. In 2021, CEDA found that Australia is facing a shortage of at least 110,000 direct aged-care workers within the next decade unless urgent action is taken to boost the workforce.
“It didn't matter whether you were
in a city, a region, or a remote
location and it didn't matter whether
you were 18 or 85, there was a
very, very clear message the things
that mattered were basic health care,
aged care, chronic diseases.”
CEDA CEO, MELINDA CILENTO
Speaking on CEDA's 2018 Community Pulse Survey report.
“It didn't matter whether you were
in a city, a region, or a remote
location and it didn't matter whether
you were 18 or 85, there was a
very, very clear message the things
that mattered were basic health care,
aged care, chronic diseases.”
CEDA CEO, MELINDA CILENTO
Speaking on CEDA's 2018 Community Pulse Survey report.
More from the experts
AGED-CARE WORKER CRISIS WILL WORSEN WITHOUT ACTION
READ MORERADICAL REFORM NEEDED TO STAFF AGED CARE SECTOR
READ MOREREPLAY DISCUSSIONS FROM THE CEDA STAGE
Watch CEDA's aged care policy discussions featuring leaders and experts from across Australia.
DUTY OF CARE: MEETING THE AGED CARE WORKFORCE CHALLENGE
In this discussion we asked, how do we build capacity, retain existing talent, and innovate our workforce in this critical sector without undermining other parts of the care economy? The speakers: Aged Care Workforce Industry Council, Chair Libby Lyons; Amana Living Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Buckland, Deloitte Aged Care, Lead Partner, Adjunct Professor, Anita Ghose; CEDA Chief (then Senior) Economist, Cassandra Winzar.
RE-IMAGINING AUSTRALIA'S CARE ECONOMY
Despite the care economy’s size and scale, challenges persist in care quality, how care is consumed, as well as the policies and planning that underpin it. We heard from leading thinkers on re-imagining new ways to deliver care that boosts efficiency and offer positive outcomes for all Australians. Speakers: RMIT University, Emeritus Professor Public Policy and the Social Economy, Dr David Hayward; Uniting Vic.Tas, Chief Executive Officer, the Hon. Bronwyn Pike AM; La Trobe University, John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research, Chair and Director, Professor Irene Blackberry; CEDA Chief (then Senior) Economist, Cassandra Winzar.
