Aged care workers set to receive pay rise

Aged care workers are set to receive a 15 per cent interim pay rise after the Fair Work Commission ruled that existing pay did not "properly compensate" industry workers for their value.

The decision, handed down by the Commission in November, applies to workers involved in direct care for people in nursing homes, but won't cover administrative staff or lifestyle workers.

Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) chief Tom Symondson said the "substantial" move was a step towards long-lasting reform.

"A better-paid workforce means a higher quality of care for older Australians enabling them to live their best lives," Symondson said.

"We note the decision does not cover staff not involved in direct care such as kitchen, laundry, recreation activities and administrative staff, and we look forward to a further decision by the commission which addresses their pay."

The FWC said in their decision, which spanned more than 300 pages, that work in feminised industries had been traditionally undervalued.

It noted considerations for a pay increase for direct care workers and administrative staff will continue into the future.

“We wish to make it clear that this does not conclude our consideration of the unions’ claim for a 25 per cent increase for other employees, namely administrative and support and aged care employees,” the report said.

“Nor are we suggesting the 15 per cent interim increase necessarily exhausts the extent of the increase justified by work value reasons in respect of direct care workers.”

The Health Services Union, which launched its bid for a 25 per cent pay increase to the FWC two years ago, welcomed Friday's decision but said a broader increase was needed to protect the workforce.

"This is a reasonable start but we need the commission to go further and permanently end the poverty wage settings that dominate aged care,” HSU president Gerard Hayes said.

“Fifteen per cent is a down payment but nobody should be mistaken. This will not fix the crisis. We still have massive unfinished business in aged care. 

“Today represents progress, but the legal, political and industrial fight continues."

The federal government set aside an unspecified figure in the budget’s contingency reserve to pay for the increase.

Pressed to outline exactly how much he anticipates the budget will have to fork out to pay for the changes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would not say until the FWC handed down its final decision.

“We don't declare it, that’s why it’s called the contingency (reserve),” Albanese told reporters.

The timing of the pay rise is set to be discussed later this month, with the FWC to take submissions from the federal government and employers and the government before handing down stages two and three of its decision.

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