Julie Penlington initially jumped at the chance to keep her 93-year-old mother Patricia Shumack at home longer and out of assisted living care.
But a shortage of workers within the aged care industry has left the 68-year-old unable to even help her mother to the toilet if carers don't arrive.
The Sunshine Coast woman is just one of the chorus of voices across the country calling for the systemic issues of aged care to be front of mind this federal election.
The industry is losing staff in droves as chronically stressed, overworked and underpaid workers could earn more working unskilled jobs or transferring to the disability sector.
It is an issue made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-increasing demand of My Aged Care packages approved since the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
'Aged care commission has done nothing'
Ms Penlington has cared for her war-widowed mother in her Mooloolaba home for three years with the assistance of a Level 4 My Aged Care package.
"The staff that come are fabulous, but they're not being paid what they're worth. So they're leaving in droves.
"It's just a sad situation — the government, the Aged Care Commission, has done nothing."
Ms Penlington said she was disgusted a member of parliament suggested going to the private system instead.
Someone who sees this every day is Kathleen Sinclair, a manager based on the Sunshine Coast in aged care for the myHomecare Group.
She said the issue has been allowed to become an "epidemic".
MyHomecare is calling for bipartisan support to increase mental health support or a federal hotline for aged care support workers.
"The stress that's placed on companies and businesses like ours and our staff is extraordinary," Ms Sinclair said.
Unsung heroes of the pandemic burnt out
Ms Sinclair said aged care staff were among the unsung heroes of the pandemic, filling in to support elderly people cut off from loved ones.
She said she agreed with the unions, which are also pushing for higher pay.
"I mean, our staff are qualified … They go into homes with people who are extremely vulnerable and are expected to do everything for them to help support them."
She said some unqualified labourers were paid more than aged care workers.
"With our ageing population obviously we're only going to have more and more of it and with our health also improving we're living longer, so people staying at home that need that assistance is only going to increase."
Carlton Williams works in aged care on the Sunshine Coast but he has to work a second job to make ends meet.
He works as an in-home carer during the day and bartending at night and on weekends.
Australians overwhelmingly want the federal government to increase pay for workers in the aged care sector, according to ABC Vote Compass results.
Fair Work Commission help could be years away
Aged and Community Services Australia CEO Paul Sadler said the number of home care packages in Australia had been growing rapidly over the past few years.
A release of 80,000 more packages after the aged care royal commission in June last year put a dent in the 130,000 people on the waiting list.
There is currently a waiting list of 68,000 people to get their funding for the right level of home care.
"So we're taking steps in the right direction to be able to get people the help they need at home. But of course, the big issue is the availability of the workforce," Mr Sadler said.
There is some hope on the horizon.
Fair Work Commission harings into increasing the base wage for aged care workers across three awards began in April, with unions pushing for a 25 per cent wage increase to the minimum wage – or about $5 an hour
Mr Sadler said employers had not put an exact figure on their hopes for the commission's findings.
Disability workers received a similar pay rise almost 10 years ago, putting them 25 per cent higher than their counterparts in aged care.
Mr Sadler said this would be a case of aged care workers catching up.
"Really the employers and the unions are advocating that there should be an increase in the wages of aged care workers to reflect the value of the work they do.
Both major political parties have said they would "honour" the findings of the Fair Work Commission case.
"We're urging all sides of politics, whoever gets into government after Saturday, to support the Fair Work Commission outcome and to fully fund that outcome," Mr Sadler said.
"But we will need more than that to fix the workforce challenges."
A decision is expected late this year or early 2023 from the Fair Work Commission, but it could be years before that translates to changes for carers and households.
Other suggestions from the ACSA include attracting international workers to fill staffing gaps, better career pathways and support to foster staff retention.
