ALP response

Australian Labor Party feedback on aged care issues.

Electorate and candidate:

  • Blair - Shayne Neumann MP
  • Bonner - Kerry Rea MP
  • Bowman - Jenny Peters
  • Dickson - Fiona McNamara
  • Moreton - Graham Perrett MP
  • Petrie - Yvette D'Ath MP
  • Ryan - Steven Miles
  • Wright - Andrew Ramsay
Issue Candidate response
Providing the right balance of skills and nursing hours so that nursing and care staff can provide quality care for every resident

The Gillard Labor Government is investing in workforce training and skills development.

The skills of aged care workers are an important part of providing high quality care.

A re-elected Gillard Labor Government will continue training more than 25,600 aged care workers and over the next four years, provide an additional 31,000 aged care training places and scholarships including additional nursing scholarships to build the aged care workforce.

Federal Labor also committed $60 million in the 2010-11 Budget to provide financial incentives of up to $5,000 for aged care workers and nurses to undertake further studies to enhance their career. People commencing study after 1 July 2010 may be eligible for the education and training incentive payments.
Ensuring fair pay for aged care nurses and care staff who are paid up to $300 per week less than nurses in the other sectors.

Federal Labor has increased funding for aged and community care to more than $47 billion over the next four years.

While the Federal Government has overarching policy and funding responsibility for aged care, wages and conditions for carers are negotiated directly with the employer. To ensure a fair deal for all workers, Federal Labor ended WorkChoices and introduced a fairer industrial relations system with collective bargaining at its heart.

Federal Labor’s industrial reforms also included special provisions for workers who had limited access to bargaining in the past like aged care workers.

The increased aged care funding that will be provided by a re-elected Gillard Labor Government, and the continuation of a fairer industrial relation system, will help to ensure better outcomes for aged care workers.

One of the key issues in this election will be Mr Abbott’s plan to bring back the worst aspects of WorkChoices.

On the very first day of the election campaign, Mr Abbott and his Workplace Relations Minister Eric Abetz refused to rule out changing the industrial relations regulations that help govern the wages and conditions of hard working Australians.

Tony Abbott and the Coalition cannot be trusted to not reintroduce the worst aspects of WorkChoices policy they have supported all along.
Recognising the professional skill of Assistants in Nursing and care staff through a national licensing system. In the 2010-11 Budget, the Government committed $3.5 million to explore the regulation of personal care workers and assistants in nursing and aged care. This will reform consideration of whether to include personal care workers in the National Regulation and Accreditation Scheme.
Guaranteeing that taxpayer funding is used for nursing care for each resident. Federal Labor understands the importance of the work that nurses and aged care workers do – without which we wouldn’t have an aged care system.