‘Far from fixed’: Aged care workers take staffing campaign to Canberra

Aged care nurses and carers from across Australia have launched a national campaign calling for further reform of the sector, arguing that chronic understaffing, workplace violence and accountability concerns continue despite changes introduced following the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The “Australia needs care you can count on” campaign was launched at Parliament House in Canberra by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), joined by nurses and care workers from New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.

The campaign focuses on three priorities:

• Mandated staffing ratios and skills mix requirements
• Stronger action to address workplace violence and aggression
• Greater transparency around the use of aged care funding.

The campaign is backed by findings from the ANMF’s national Pulse Check of the Aged Care Sector survey, which gathered responses from 3,552 aged care nurses and care workers. The survey found almost 40 per cent of respondents rated staffing levels at their workplace as poor or very poor, while nearly half reported inadequate nursing-to-care staff ratios. Almost half also said they did not have enough time to provide care to residents.

ANMF federal secretary Annie Butler said workers across the sector continued to report significant concerns.

“The ANMF is acting on feedback from thousands of our members in aged care, who have told us systemic issues are continuing to affect the quality of the care they can provide to older Australians in aged care facilities. They’ve told us that aged care is not fixed,” she said.

“That’s why we’ve launched the ‘Australia needs care you can count on’ campaign, to secure real, enforceable change that creates a high-performing aged care sector and puts the care of older Australians ahead of providers’ profits.”

“We must ensure nurses and care workers are protected, supported and better resourced in their workplace, to finally have a sector that provides care every older Australian can count on.”

A group of aged care nurses and carers from the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) travelled to Canberra to support the campaign.

Union general secretary Michael Whaites said improvements had been made in recent years, but major challenges remained.

“The aged care sector has seen some improvement in recent years, but it is far from being fixed,” he said.

“In the face of Care Minutes not being complied with, we need ratios to deliver better staffing and skill mix in aged care, safer workplaces to prevent workplace violence, and greater transparency of taxpayer funding. These are all practical reforms that can help to build an aged care sector that works now and into the future.”

Among the campaign's key demands is replacing the current care minutes system with mandated staffing ratios aligned with evidence-based benchmarks, including a workforce mix of 30 per cent registered nurses, 20 per cent enrolled nurses and 50 per cent personal care workers.

The survey also highlighted workplace violence as a continuing issue, with almost all respondents reporting they had experienced or witnessed at least one incident of workplace violence or aggression in the previous year. More than three-quarters reported verbal abuse and almost 70 per cent reported physical aggression.

NSWNMA assistant general secretary Katrina Bough said stronger oversight was needed to ensure existing reforms achieved their intended outcomes.

“Historic reforms such as RN 24/7 and minimum care minutes were designed to lift standards in aged care, but currently there are serious gaps in compliance which risk undermining it all,” she said.

“Nurses and carers are continuing to report unsafe workloads to us, as well as ongoing staffing shortages across the sector, which is why we are participating in this national campaign.”

The campaign is also calling for standardised public reporting of aged care providers’ financial performance and the use of taxpayer funding, as well as stronger regulatory oversight to improve transparency and accountability across the sector.