Aged care workers will receive a 15 per cent pay boost after the Fair Work Commission handed down its decision in the high-profile wage case backed by the Albanese Government. Source: The Age.
The Health Services Union called for a 25 per cent pay rise, comparable to $5 an hour, for aged care workers and nurses after a royal commission into the haemorrhaging sector called on the Commonwealth and providers to overhaul the historical underpayment of the feminised workforce.
In a highly anticipated decision handed down shortly after 4pm on Friday, the industrial umpire concluded staff involved in the direct care of Australia’s elderly were entitled to a 15 per cent pay rise but said it didn’t necessarily exhaust “the extent of the increase justified”.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said the result signified a first step in changing the undervalued nature of aged-care work.
Fair Work said “the evidence establishes that the existing minimum rates do not properly compensate employees for the value of the work” they perform.
Another hearing will be held later this month to determine the timing of the pay rise, and whether it is to be phased in. The commission said the question of “whether any further increase is justified” would be the subject of submissions from employers and the federal Government.
The Government backed an increase in aged-care workers’ wages and has promised to fund the pay rise, telling the commission pay rates in the sector should be “significantly higher” without nominating a figure.
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Aged care workers to get 15 per cent pay rise (By Angus Thompson, The Age)
