Our campaign for aged care TIM JACOBSON HACSU State Secretary
NO ONE could argue against the need for a complete overhaul of Australia's aged care system... well, no one but the Morrison Government.
Over the past year we've seen how desperately important it is to have an adequate and skilled aged care workforce. COVID-19's tragic impact has been felt heavily across our aged care sector particularly in north west Tasmania, NSW and Victoria.
The federal government has been big on talk when it comes to the sector, rushing out an early vaccination program that's been an unmitigated failure. Then they dropped the findings of the Aged Care Royal Commission
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without addressing the single largest problem – staffing levels and decent, well-paid careers.
They missed the opportunity in this year’s budget to address these issues – they delivered nothing. Well, if the government won’t do anything, we will, so we've collectively invested in a lifechanging wage case for aged care workers.
If successful, HACSU’s case for a 25% wage increase across the aged care workforce, including homecare and nursing, will see the largest boost to aged care wages in a generation. Having worked beside you for decades we know that unless wages and staffing levels are fixed there's no possible way the sector can lift standards of care. Over the past month I've visited many aged care facilities as a part
of our Thank You For Working in Aged Care celebrations.
I’ve had a great time catching up with many of you, and I've seen a massive level of support for our campaign from residents and their families, which is the thing that absolutely means the most for me.
I know you agree with how important it is to lift wages and standards across the sector, so keep an eye out for updates on the Aged Care Work Value case. We’ve got some work to do, and not just the legal work – we must push this rotten Morrison Government to do something, and push Labor and the independents to commit to our cause. Most importantly, we need to campaign in our communities and we need to win for aged care workers and for our elder Australians!
