Aged care workers will get a 15 per cent wage rise after an interim ruling from the Fair Work Commission last Friday – but who gets it, and will it be enough?
"As much as the 15 per cent pay rise is a step in the right direction, our work has not been properly valued for years," personal care worker Mandy Smith told The Drum.
"So I see it more as a pay correction than a pay rise."
Is 15 per cent enough to attract and retain aged care workers?
The Commission's decision doesn't match the 25 per cent increase unions have been calling for, but Ms Smith says 15 per cent will be enough to keep some people in the industry.
As for herself, she's struggling.
"My mortgage has gone up three times and my wages haven't gone up," Ms Smith said. "I have to find that money."
She also doesn't know if it's enough to attract people to the aged care workforce.
"We're struggling so badly to get people working," she said.
"We're thankful for agency workers, but a lot of them don't come in with experience so we're having to guide them and teach them – and they're getting paid twice as much as we are.
"So, it would be fantastic to get more people into the industry."
CEO of Maroba Aged Care in Newcastle Viv Allanson thinks the pay rise will encourage workers to stay in the sector.
"People have hope that their wages are going up," she said.
"That will be an encouraging step for aged care workers who so desperately deserve and need this to help them with their cost of living."
Her permanent, part-time staff will see a wage increase from $25 to $29 an hour, while casuals' pay will increase to $36 an hour.
"That's getting close to being able to compete with the NDIS where casuals are sitting around $38 an hour," Ms Allanson said.
Do some aged care workers miss out?
The Commission's ruling doesn't cover all workers in the sector, but it has left the door open for further changes including another increase to pay.
"We wish to make it clear that this does not conclude our consideration of the unions' claim for a 25 per cent increase for other employees, namely administrative and support aged care employees," the Fair Work Commission said in their decision.
"Nor are we suggesting that the 15 per cent interim increase necessarily exhausts the extent of the increase."
Ms Allanson wants to see the pay increases applied across all roles – from administration to housekeeping, and more – with all areas hit by staff shortages.
"Domestic and housekeeping staff do such a vital role, which has been highlighted through the pandemic," she said.
"I don't want them leaving … when they could be maintaining their roles here with a decent salary."
Ms Smith said domestic home care workers – who aren't covered in the pay rise ruling – are an integral part of the facilities she works in.
"We can't run (it) without them," she said.
The government said it would fund the pay rise – what does that mean?
The federal government has welcomed the decision and said it would fund the increase to award wages.
"A wage rise for aged care workers is not just the right thing to do it is a smart thing to do," Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells told Question Time on Tuesday.
"For some aged care workers, after literally decades in the job that they love, they are about to crack the $30 an hour barrier for the very first time."
But there's little detail yet about how the government will fund it.
Ms Allanson said she won't be footing the bill.
"I'm not the only CEO that would be loving to pay people more right now, but there is no money."
"The prime minister announced that he would support the pay rise and fund the pay rise that the Fair Work Commission ordered, so we believe he will be true to his word," she said.
What do aged care residents think?
Jenny Chan is a 79-year-old aged care resident in Sydney, and there has been a buzz in her residential facility since the news broke on Friday.
"I think they really deserve this pay rise, and I would like to see a bit more," she told The Drum.
"These workers are the foot soldiers of our place – when we press that buzzer, they are the first here and they work so hard."
"In the first quarter of the next year, I'd like to see another 15 per cent rise – and then some kind of parity with nurses."
