Sharon McDougall worked as an aged care worker for 35 years before quitting the sector in November last year.
Low wages, long working hours and ongoing staff shortages are just some of the factors that drove her to leave the job she loved.
“The biggest challenge was understaffing. The night shifts were the worst. Sometimes there would be three carers for 73 residents,” Ms McDougall, who lives in the suburb of Menai in Sydney’s south, told SBS News.
Ms McDougall is not alone.
According to experts in aged care and disability care sectors, hundreds of overworked, fatigued and underpaid workers have quit their jobs in this sector in the past few months for opportunities in other industries such as hospitality and retail.
“As a union, in January alone, we lost 100 aged care members in New South Wales. They resigned from the union [saying] they’re leaving the industry,” Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes told SBS News.
“People leave and people join the sector and that’s normal, but we have never seen 100 people leave the industry in a month,” Mr Hayes said.
Things are not too different in the disability care sector either.
“There’s a lot of turnover of staff and it’s a real problem that people are either temporarily or permanently leaving the sector, so we’ve got both a short-term issue and a major long-term macro problem to solve,” Michael Metcalfe, founder and CEO of the Kynd app and website, told SBS News.
Kynd matches disability support workers with National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants and Mr Metcalfe said the platform is experiencing 100 per cent week-on-week increase in the demand for disability support workers due to growing staff shortages.
Michael Metcalfe, founder and CEO of Kynd app and website. Source: Supplied
“The top reason why people are exiting the aged care and disability workforce right now is simply burnout. It’s a constant pressure to deliver services,” Mr Metcalfe said.
“There’s ambiguity and confusion around rules. It’s creating high stress for workers,” he said.
According to Mr Hayes, low wages in these sectors have also led to a mass exodus of workers.
Aged care workers “are being paid meagre amounts of money, as other industries like hospitality and retail are incentivising people to come and work for them,” Mr Hayes said.
The award wage for a full-time entry-level aged care employee in Australia is $21.62, slightly less than the award wage ($22.33) for a full-time entry-level employee working in the fast food and retail sector.
"Can you imagine that you can go and work in a range of retail stores and get paid more? If you drop a can of paint, you’re not going to kill them [in a retail store], but if you do that in aged care you will," Mr Hayes said.
Full-time, entry-level award wages. Source: Supplied
The comments come almost a year after a damning royal commission into the sector was handed to the government. The royal commission recommended an increase in the award wages of workers in the sector.
“The government has chosen to do virtually nothing about it … Instead what the government has chosen to do is say: ‘Here’s a payment of up to $400,’ which will be taxed,” Mr Hayes said, referring to the two one-off payments of $400 for aged care workers Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced in his National Press Club address on Tuesday.
Mr Hayes said the government should boost wages by at least 25 per cent and ensure better working conditions for aged care workers to fix the problem in the short term.
“The government should agree that aged care workers have permanent full-time positions at one facility instead of two or three facilities,” he said.
“And then on top of that, the government should give people the training, support and – importantly – the resources so aged care workers can look after five to 10 people, as opposed to 20 to 30 people,” he said.
In a statement to SBS News, a federal Department of Health spokesperson highlighted a range of initiatives the government has launched to address the issue.
“The Australian government has made a significant investment to grow the aged care workforce as part of the response to the Royal Commission in Aged Care Quality and Safety,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes a $144.7 million commitment for the Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payment. This payment rewards the clinical skills and leadership of registered nurses, with payments for working for the same aged care provider for a six- or 12-month period.
"The government is also investing $91.8 million to support providers to attract, train and retain 13,000 new personal care workers, with a focus on home care.
Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes. Source: Supplied
"The Government has also launched a campaign titled ‘A Life Changing Life’ to encourage Australians to consider a career in the care and support workforce. This campaign shines a light on the rewarding, varied and sustainable job opportunities available in the sector, and encourages people with the right skills and personal qualities to consider working in care and support.
"To ensure meaningful engagement with CALD communities, a specialist consultant was engaged to advise on customised messaging and campaign materials. The advertising has been translated into multiple languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean and Arabic, with information available in a further 15 languages on the campaign website."
