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Medical staff are seen inside Epping Gardens Aged Care Facility
Comparing average wages with key cost of living indicators such as rent and childcare showed care workers ended up with little to no disposable income. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Comparing average wages with key cost of living indicators such as rent and childcare showed care workers ended up with little to no disposable income. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Aged care workers struggle to cover basics as low wages and rising living costs take toll

This article is more than 2 years old

Full-time income of a single parent worker not enough for essential expenses, Australian Aged Care Collaboration report reveals

Aged care workers are being priced out of their communities, with low wages and rising living costs leaving a worker in a typical two-parent household with $34 of disposable income each week, and a single parent full-time worker unable to cover basic expenses.

The findings come from a report published on Wednesday by the Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC), a group of six aged care peak bodies. The report compared average wages for workers in the residential and home care sectors against key cost of living indicators including average rents, childcare expenses, grocery costs, and petrol.

Expenses were then compared to income earned by a certificate III qualified personal care worker employed at the award rate for a 38-hour week, who would earn $900 a week, or $773 after tax.

“Based on average earnings and expenses, an aged care worker in a single household would have $156 of income each week after basic expenses to cover other costs,” the report found.

“An aged care worker in a single-parent household would not be able to cover even basic expenses without working extra hours, working late nights or weekends, and relying on additional government benefits.

“An aged care worker in a typical two-parent household would have $34 of disposable income each week after expenses. These assumptions only cover basic weekly living costs.”

The report said aged care workers in single households were likely in serious financial stress with little or no savings buffer, while aged care workers in coupled households were likely to be financially dependent on a partner’s income.

“The results also reinforce concerns that aged care workers, like other frontline workers, are being priced out of housing,” the report concluded. “This helps explain why some aged care providers are being forced to offer housing options to attract staff.”

It is also one of the factors contributing to workers leaving the profession, creating workforce shortages. Aged care services are competing for workers with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the health system, and the community sector.

“Each of these sectors is funded to offer higher pay to these workers,” the report said.

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Ahead of the federal election, the AACC is calling on all parties and independent candidates to join representatives of older people and their carers, providers, unions, and health professionals to support the aged care workforce and push for key reforms.

These include a minimum wage increase for aged care workers, an award wage increase from July, and a commitment to a multidisciplinary workforce by putting in place an allied health needs assessment and funding model by July 2024.

The median hourly wage for a support worker is $28.41, and $28.99 for a home care worker. The median hourly wage for a bartender is $30, and $31.79 for a cashier.

In February, nurses and other workers protested dangerous staff shortages, underpayment, and a lack of personal protective equipment – issues that persist more than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic began and despite numerous inquiries into the aged care sector.

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