The aged care sector has questioned the Coalition’s claims that the home care workforce has increased by almost 15% in a matter of months, saying the figures appear at odds with the “severe staffing challenges” it is experiencing.
Aged care providers have repeatedly warned of the staffing crisis facing the sector, including in critically important home care services, where staffing issues have compromised the ability to provide some forms of support to older Australians in their own home.
In response, the aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, said this week that the home care workforce had actually increased by 15,000, from 115,854 to 130,472, in the five months since November, which would represent a 13% increase to the total workforce.
But the peak body for the aged care sector, Leading Age Services Australia, said it had seen no figures reflecting such a significant boost to the home care workforce.
“We are not aware of any data that reflects this level of growth in the home care workforce,” its chief executive, Sean Rooney, told the Guardian.
“We would be keen to find out more about the figures the minister has quoted and just where these workers are coming from.
“Providers report to LASA that they continue to face severe staffing challenges due to the pandemic so it is difficult to see where these workers are coming from.”
Asked for more detail about the figures, Colbeck’s office said they reflected data provided directly to the minister via the My Aged Care weekly reporting system. They reflected an increase in staff from “115,854 from 3 November 2021 to 130,472 to 13 April, 2022”, the spokesperson said.
“This figure takes into account workforce fluctuations,” the spokesperson said.
The latest publicly available, official dataset on the home care workforce is the Australian Bureau of Statistics aged care workforce census, conducted in late 2020.
It found the total workforce in the Home Care Packages Program (HCPP), designed for more complex care needs, was 80,340.
For the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), which funds less complex care, the total workforce was 76,096.
The combined workforce across both was 156,436, including 123,048 direct care staff.
Colbeck’s office said the figure he was using related to HCPP only.
The census said that 57% of CHSP providers reported a decrease in volunteer levels and 28% reported a decrease in personal care workers due to the pandemic. The majority of HCPP providers reported no change in staffing levels due to Covid, while 21% reported a decrease, and 18% reported an increase.
The issue of aged care staffing is shaping as a significant issue for both parties in the next weeks of the campaign.
Aged care workers in residential care are planning to strike in the latter stages of the campaign over continuing poor pay and conditions, while the Fair Work Commission will next week begin hearings on whether to lift the pay of aged care workers 25% above the award.
The Coalition promised 80,000 new home care packages and $338.5m to expand, train and upskill the aged care workforce in the last budget.
Labor has promised nurses in every residential care facility 24/7, significant funding to improve nutrition for aged care residents, and improved transparency and accountability for providers.
“Aged care workers are despairing,” Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday.
“This is tough work. It’s physically demanding. They [are] faced with circumstances whereby they’re in an aged care home and they have three buzzers going at once. Which person do they go to?”
Both major parties have made promises to fund pay rises for the sector and the Coalition has accused Labor of announcing nothing for home care specifically.
Aged and Community Services Australia, an industry peak group, says the sector is suffering “a serious workforce shortage”.
“Attracting home care and other aged care workers has become even more difficult through the pressures of the past two years,” Acsa’s chief executive, Paul Sadler, told the Guardian this week.
In home care, the total number of workers is not the only issue putting strain on the system. Providers have reported huge staff turnover, even while staffing levels remain relatively stable, and continuing low average hours worked per worker.
