From Steve's desk

By any definition 2023 has already seen a LOT happening as we continue to tackle workforce shortages, cost of living increases and lingering COVID.

It’s good to see some positive signs for our sector coming through. Notably two important wage-related announcements from the Fair Work Commission (FWC) come into effect from 1 July.

The first is specific to our sector with the work value case 15% minimum wage increase to award rates for direct care workers. This bump up in aged care funding is well-deserved and long overdue. As one of the first providers to sign up for the work value case, we’re committed to passing on the funding we receive. It does come with a couple of complications - the FWC calculation is based on the minimum award, rather than above-award rates, and the increase does not apply to everyone. For employees not in scope, we will continue to strongly advocate for extending the pay rise to all aged care workers.

The second is a 5.75% minimum award rate increase as part of the FWC’s annual wage review. We’ve been working through how this increase will be applied as it will result in different pay rate changes for different employees. If you’re paid at the current award rate, you’ll receive the full 5.75% uplift. If you’re paid above the minimum award rate, you’ll receive a component of the increase. If your existing pay rate is more than 5.75% above the minimum award rate, the increase won’t apply.

There’s a bit to absorb. Two key take-aways:

• You’ll receive your new rate of pay reflecting both changes in the first pay period in July.
• You’ll receive an individualised letter outlining your new rate of pay as a result of both changes, by the end of July.

If you have questions in the meantime, speak to your leader or contact employeerelations@boltonclarke.com.au.

Another recent highlight came in the Federal budget with the establishment of an Aged Care Taskforce to look at sustainable funding. We’re actively involved in this and other initiatives to identify different ways to sustain the sector. The Taskforce is an important step toward looking at alternative funding models, with a particular focus on co-contributions.

In June, providers, unions, advocates, academics, consumer groups and older Australians came together for a Financial Sustainability Summit. The key outcome from the Summit was sector agreement to develop a white paper on financial and workforce sustainability. These are essential given the demand for aged care services will continue to outstrip supply well into the future.

At the same time, the Government has released the Aged Care Reform Roadmap to provide greater visibility and an indicative timeline for key reform elements to June 2025. We’re well placed to implement the next reform requiring residential homes to have a registered nurse present 24/7 from 1 July, and are focused on remaining 2023 priorities including mandatory 200 minutes of care time per resident per day from October, revised Aged Care Quality Standards and new governance requirements. The roadmap reflects the postponement of the new Support at Home Program to 1 July 2025.  You can read more about the roadmap on page 22 of the online edition.

My thanks continue to go out to all frontline teams dealing with a fifth Omicron wave that has been brewing slowly and is now coinciding with influenza and RSV waves. 

It’s pleasing that the tremendous efforts of our teams through COVID-19 and beyond have recently been recognised at the 11th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards. We were named Operator of the Year – Residential Aged Care and winner of COVID-19 Innovation of the Year (Loneliness). You can read all about the results here.

In this edition of Montage, there’s more to celebrate and catch-up on with some great news to share including AMAZING results from the recent Appreciation campaign which saw 600+ messages of recognition shared across our teams – what a terrific effort!

Enjoy reading this latest issue,

Steve