The federal government has declared it will call for a "meaningful" pay rise for aged care workers in its submission to the independent wages umpire on Monday, but has stopped short of nominating a specific dollar figure.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is considering a case brought forward by the unions, which are calling for a 25 per cent pay increase for 200,000 residential and home care workers.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said while the government would push for a pay rise in its Fair Work submission, it would not call for a specific wage increase.
"We support a significant, meaningful pay rise," she told Sky News on Sunday.
"We haven't put a number to it because traditionally governments don't put numbers to it, that is for the commission to decide exactly what percentage the work value case is worth.
"But we have agreed we will fund it, no matter what the decision."
Increasing the pay of aged care workers was one of the key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's final report last year.
Since that report was released, unions and industry groups have argued the pandemic has exacerbated funding and workforce issues, and say pay increases are needed to attract and retain skilled workers.
In the lead-up to the May election, Labor promised if it won government, it would make a submission to the FWC's aged care work value case supporting a pay rise for the industry's workforce, vowing to fund the arbitrated increase.
The commitment was criticised by then-prime minister Scott Morrison, who questioned how Labor would fund any increase, instead opting to give aged care workers across the country two, one-off payments of $400.
But Ms Wells said a permanent wage hike was desperately needed.
"The number one issue that everybody wants to talk to me about in aged care is workforce shortages, we need to do something to value aged care workers better and that starts with a pay rise," she said.
"The complexity of their work has increased significantly not just through COVID in the past two years particularly, but in the past decades.
"The kind of work that we want them to do based on the Royal Commission recommendations for aged care and for a better standard and a better future in aged care — it is more complex work, so they should be recognised for that."
If the union's case is successful, the FWC would vary the aged care award, which outlines the minimum pay rates and conditions of employment.
That would mean different things for different workers, but it could see the minimum wage in aged care rise by at least $5 an hour.
A qualified personal carer's minimum wage would be bumped up from $23.09 to $28.86 an hour, based on wage rates when the application was lodged.
Looking at weekly wages, a level 1 aged care employee could have their weekly pay increased from just over $800 to more than $1,000 a week, under the union's proposal.
The case in the FWC has been going on since 2020 and is due to hold hearings where it hears from the government and unions this month.
ABC
