Aged Care
Employers, unions tell Morrison: don’t blame workers for your failures
Aged care providers and the union movement have united to reject the Morrison government’s blame-shifting on COVID-19 vaccination.
Employers and unions are unanimous in saying government failures – not workers – have caused low vaccination rates among nursing home staff.
The Australian Aged Care Collaboration – a coalition of aged care employer groups – joined with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and other unions to issue a joint statement on 8 July.
The statement pointed out that providers and unions have been calling for fast action on vaccinating aged care workers for at least six months.
“However, the government’s aged care vaccine program has too often led to disappointment, frustration, confusion and anger,” it said.
The statement demanded that the government implement five principles in a rollout strategy that would support aged care workers to be vaccinated quickly and safely using the Pfizer vaccine only.
The principles are:
- Ensure client, resident and worker safety.
- Government-funded workplace vaccination and prioritised
access to vaccination providers near workplaces. - Paid leave to access vaccinations and recover from effects or reactions if needed.
- Targeted vaccine education
and communication. - Transparency and accountability on vaccine data and supply.
A smoke-and-mirrors strategy
ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler said the government told aged care workers at the beginning of 2021 that they were first priority and would receive easy access to the vaccine in their workplace. This did not happen.
“The only way to improve vaccine pick-up is to make it easy for workers, not to shame them,” she said.
“The government has not been able to deliver on its own strategy and is now using a ‘smoke-and-mirrors’ game to pin the responsibility on the worker.
“But as we’ve seen with the latest COVID outbreak in NSW, the vaccine rollout in privately run aged care facilities is not a game. It is completely serious.
“Workers are still not guaranteed access to vaccines, whether on or off-site, and there’s insufficient support or special leave provisions to manage possible side-effects or reactions and the need to take time off.
“The government must finally listen to workers, their unions and providers, and act on our recommendations.”
Federal government ignored solutions
Employer spokesperson Sean Rooney, CEO of Leading Age Services Australia, said provider groups have been calling on the government since January to work with the sector to ensure aged care residents and staff were vaccinated as efficiently, effectively and safely as possible.
Mr Rooney told Australian Ageing Agenda it was “extremely frustrating and disappointing” to have the government ignore solutions developed by the sector, including staff being vaccinated on site at aged care facilities.
The government said staff vaccinations would be completed by the end of March this year, but resident vaccinations have just been completed, only a third of aged care home staff have received theirs and it is unclear where home care workers stand, he said.
“The Department of Health has said that staff can get vaccinated at their local GP or a vaccination hub, but this has led to delays. This is not good enough.”