It has been a tough few years for aged care but Labor’s election win promises a better future for the troubled sector.

“Together we can fix the crisis in aged care.”

This was one of Anthony Albanese’s key points in his election night speech as Labor swept to victory in the 2022 federal poll.

The new prime minister said his philosophy was “no-one left behind” and “no-one held back”, and that he wanted to see an economy that works for the people of Australia and not the other way around.

Consistent with this commitment was his pledge to support the outcome of the Fair Work Commission for a wage rise for aged care workers.

During the campaign, the ALP made it clear that fixing aged care – and especially staffing – would be a high priority for them in government.

Anthony Albanese said that the Royal Commission recommendation to require a nurse to be on duty 24/7 in residential care was “core to improving clinical care for frail Australians”.

“Nothing will change without reform to the workforce,” he said.

The ALP also promised an additional $2.5 billion for the aged care sector, with strong checks to ensure that the funding was spent on care.

A government with a plan

ANMF Secretary Annie Butler welcomed the election of a new government that was committed to tackling the massive challenges facing the aged care sector and the public health system.

“We are delighted that we finally have a federal government that has a real plan to fix the systemic issues in health and aged care,” she said.

“Mr Albanese and his team, including Mark Butler (Shadow Health and Ageing) and Clare O’Neil (Shadow Senior Australians and Aged Care Services), have listened to the ANMF and have committed to working with us to develop a health workforce that is ready and able to respond to Australia’s health needs.

“In aged care, the ALP has committed to funding mandated staffing ratios in private aged care facilities, improving wages for the depleted workforce and making sure taxpayer-funds for providers are tied to direct care for residents.”

NSWNMA Acting General Secretary Shaye Candish said the election of an Albanese government, with a strong commitment to addressing the crisis in aged care, was a landmark moment for the union.

“It is historic from our perspective because it has been a long fight to bring attention to the calamity that is aged care, let alone to fix it.

“Aged care has been on a long trajectory into crisis since the Howard government’s ill-judged reforms in the 1990s.

“COVID exposed the folly of taking the ‘nursing’ out of nursing homes and the negligence of successive governments that allowed providers to put profit before care.

“Our aged care members have toiled tirelessly for more than a decade to right this wrong and have stood up for the safety and wellbeing of their residents.

“The Association has put a lot of resources – paid advertising, lobbying, and countless grassroots actions – into getting a better deal for Australia’s elderly.

“Finally, we have a government that has listened to us and has a credible plan to rescue the sector.”

Residents are excited too

NSW South Coast aged care AiN Susan Walton says she “can’t describe the feeling of now having hopeful change after all these years. It’s unbelievable that we won’t be forgotten anymore”.

“The road is not finished. We’ll be holding the government to account. We can’t wait three years. We don’t want to be put to the bottom of the pile.”

Susan says she is optimistic about a good outcome from the aged care work review case before the Fair Work Commission.

“The support of the federal government must mean something. It must give it weight.”

Susan says residents are just as excited as staff.

“They know something will happen and their lives will change. They won’t be left alone in their rooms. There will be more staff. They will have more dignity.

“There is more hope in aged care when before we had none.”

What the new federal Labor government has committed to for 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
• Mandated standards for nutrition in nursing homes
• Residential care providers must report – in public and in detail – what they are spending government funding on.