The issue of low wages for care workers and nurses in residential aged care is long-standing. In 2018, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Royal Commission) found that a wage gap exists between aged care workers and workers performing equivalent roles in other health sectors.
Researchers have found that the low wages in this sector create a feeling among aged care workers that the community does not care about the work they are doing, even though it is vital to the functioning of our society.
This is a gendered issue. Industries dominated by women usually attract lower pay than male-dominated occupations. This reflects the lower social and financial value given to traditionally ‘female’ jobs.
Roughly 87% of people employed in the aged care sector identify as women. Aged care work has historically been undervalued and dismissed as ‘caring work’, leading to adverse impacts on the financial stability and financial independence of women. HSU president Gerard Hayes remarks “For too long the aged care system has relied on the goodwill of a highly casualised and underpaid female-dominated workforce that often retire into poverty.”
This is what Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), the United Workers Union (UWU) and the Health Services Union (HSU) are hoping to challenge at the Fair Work Commission.
Following the recommendations from the Royal Commission, the Unions have made applications under S158 Fair Work Act 2009 (‘The Act’) to vary three awards; the Aged Care Award 2010, the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 and the Nurses Award 2010.
The unions are calling for a 25% pay rise of minimum wages for all classification levels under the awards, and to introduce an additional pay level for aged care workers who have undertaken specialised training.
In effect, this would mean that personal carers in nursing homes would see the minimum wage increase by approximately $5 per hour, from $23.09 to $28.86.
Distinct from enterprise bargaining, (where employees and unions seek pay rises from their employers), the case at the Fair Work Commission asks the industrial tribunal to change the actual award, and lift wages across the sector.
By applying to increase wages, the unions hope to:
- Reflect the work value of aged care employees
- Ensure equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal or comparable value (as per S 302 The Act)
- Achieve a fair and relevant minimum safety net of terms and conditions under the award (as per S134 The Act)
The Federal Government has invested $17.7 billion in aged care in response to the Royal Commission and claims that a portion of this sum is intended to increase wages. However, advocates are calling for more commitment from the government to follow the recommendations of the Royal Commission.
The final hearing is expected to go before the Fair Work Commission in mid-2022 with a decision to be delivered shortly after.
