Opposition leader makes aged care the centrepiece of ALP federal election policy in his budget reply speech.

In January Opposition leader Anthony Albanese signed the ANMF/NSWNMA pledge to support positive reform in aged care.

As The Lamp goes to print he has built on that pledge with a concrete aged care policy that will be a pillar of the party’s election manifesto.

Albanese has committed an ALP government to mandate staffing ratios by introducing, in law, requirements for minimum care hours in nursing homes and to fund real wage increases for all aged care workers.

With a delegation of 10 ANMF aged care members watching on in Federal Parliament, he announced that, if elected, an ALP government would implement the critical recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

These recommendations required a registered nurse on site 24/7 in residential care with a mandated minimum of 215 minutes of care per resident per day.

They were recommendations that the Morrison government chose to ignore in its response to the Commission’s final report.

Labor will support significant pay increases in aged care

The ALP has also pledged support for significant pay increases for aged care workers.

The ANMF is party to a case before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) that is pushing for a 25 per cent pay increase for aged care workers. This was another reform advocated by the Royal Commission into Aged Care.

Anthony Albanese, as part of the ALP’s election policy, has pledged to respect the decision of the FWC and to fully fund it.

ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler welcomed the opposition’s policy announcement.

“We have known what the real problems in aged care are for years, but despite dozens of reports, inquiries, investigations and even a Royal Commission all saying the same thing, no one as been prepared to address these core problems,” she said.

“After years of inaction, we may finally have a plan to fix the core problems underlining the crisis in aged care.”

A stark difference between the parties on aged care

Annie Butler says there is now a stark difference between the two main political parties on aged care policy.

“The Morrison Government was given a road map for reform more than a year ago by its own Royal Commission but failed to act on the Commission’s critical recommendations. Instead of overseeing desperately needed improvements, in the year that has elapsed, the Government has overseen a deepening crisis across the sector.

In announcing his party’s policy Anthony Albanese said: “The global pandemic and a Royal Commission have confirmed what so many Australians already knew – our aged care system is in crisis.”

“We’ve all been chilled by stories of unforgivable neglect. Maggots in wounds. People going days without fresh air, a shower, or a change of clothes. Stories of residents lying on the floor, crying out in pain, and nobody is there to help them,” he said.

“It’s no coincidence that COVID swept through some aged care facilities with such deadly force – because for far too long the Liberals have turned a blind eye to operators who put profit ahead of the people in their care.”

He said not only would a Labor government implement the necessary changes to reform the sector it would put in place strict measures of accountability on providers.

“I am determined to see that every single dollar of that investment goes to better care for people.

“We will make residential care providers report – in public and in detail – what they are spending money on. The days of residents going without decent food and clean clothes will come to an end.”

The pillars of Labor’s election policy on aged care

• 24 hour registered nurse care in every nursing home
• A mandated minimum 215 minutes of care per resident per day
• Funding real wage increases for aged care workers
• Ensuring accountability across the sector
• Mandated standards for nutrition in nursing homes.