Issue # 1420      22 July 2009

Aged care nursing staff yet again “short-changed”

Australia’s aged care workers have been “short-changed” by the decision of the Fair Pay Commission to put a freeze on minimum wages, said the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF).

The Fair Pay Commission ruled that the minimum wage would remain unchanged at $543.78 a week. Pay and classification scales will remain at $14.31 an hour.

The ANF’s assistant federal secretary, Lee Thomas, said nursing staff had been left disappointed by the Fair Pay Commission’s ruling.

“Our hard working nursing staff, particularly those working in the aged care sector, have been short-changed by this decision,” Ms Thomas said.

“Our aged care nursing staff are among the lowest paid in the country – on average they are being paid up to $300 a week less than their colleagues in the public hospital system.”

Ms Thomas said the wage gap between aged care nursing staff and nurses working in other areas was one of the key objectives of its current national political and media campaign, “Because We Care”, which calls for major reform in the aged care sector.

The objectives include:

• The right balance of skills and nursing hours so that nursing and care staff can provide quality care for every resident.
• Fair pay for aged care nurses and care staff who are paid up to $300 per week less than nurses in other sectors.
• Recognition of the professional skills of Assistants in Nursing and care staff through a national licensing system.
• A guarantee that taxpayer funding is used for nursing and personal care for each resident.

Next article – CQ University in dire financial trouble

Back to index page