Aged care nurses across Australia have received another boost to their wages, with the final instalment of the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) aged care work value case taking effect from August 1.
The Labor government said this fifth pay increase means a registered nurse on the most common aged care classification is now earning more than $36,000 a year more compared with 2022, while an enrolled nurse on the most common classification is earning almost $32,000 extra annually.
The increase completes a series of wage adjustments arising from the FWC work value case, which found aged care work had been historically undervalued. The government said its total investment in aged care wages now stands at almost $18 billion.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said the final increase was intended to recognise the value of the aged care workforce and improve retention in the sector.
“Since we’ve come to government, we wanted to do everything we can to encourage people who are working in aged care to stay in aged care, and the challenge has always been around pay,” Mr Marles said during a visit to Creswick District Nursing Home in regional Victoria.
“Indeed, turnover has gone down by 30 per cent as a result of these increases.”
Registered and enrolled nurses received award wage increases averaging 12 per cent, delivered in three tranches on 1 March 2025, 1 October 2025 and 1 August 2026, building on a previous 15 per cent increase awarded in 2023.
Aged Care and Seniors Minister Sam Rae said fair pay was essential to building a sustainable aged care workforce.
“If we want to sustain a world-class aged care system, we've got to pay our world-class aged care workers a fair day's pay,” he said.
“For a registered nurse on the most common classification, that's $36,000 a year, or 700 bucks a week extra in their pocket. And for an enrolled nurse on the most common classification, it's $32,000 a year, or 600 bucks a week extra in their pocket.”
Mr Rae, during his visit to Creswick, noted that 90,000 Australians will celebrate their 80th birthday this year, a figure he said had increased by 600 per cent over the past 15 years.
“We’ve got to continue to invest across the entire spectrum of care within the aged care space to meet what is one of the great public policy challenges of our time: the demographic shift as our population ages,” he said.
Email: rebecca.cox@news.com.au
