Workforce issues ‘swept under the carpet’: Macri
AUDIO: Attracting a skilled aged care workforce to meet the demands of an ageing population is the biggest challenge facing the sector and the issue has been poorly addressed by successive governments, Sue Macri, former associate commissioner at the Productivity Commission and aged care consultant, told the NEWSROOM.
AUDIO: Attracting a skilled aged care workforce to meet the demands of an ageing population is the biggest challenge facing the sector and the issue has been poorly addressed by successive governments, said Sue Macri, former associate commissioner at the Productivity Commission and aged care consultant.
Speaking to the NEWSROOM at the Leading Age Services Australia National Congress last week Ms Macri said that workforce issues were being “swept under the carpet” in terms of addressing both the sheer numbers and the expertise required in the future. She said the industry needed to get better at marketing itself as an attractive place to work with significant career opportunities rather than perpetuating the image of an under-resourced sector.
She told the NEWSROOM:
- The recommendations in the PC’s Caring for Older Australians 2011 report were cherry-picked by government and the opportunity to move to a free market has been missed;
- New rules for paying accommodation charges have made the system more complex for consumers and providers and will need to be refined;
- Governments have failed to address the sector’s workforce issues in a comprehensive and substantial way.
Click below to hear Ms Macri speak to AAA’s Linda Belardi:
Ms Macri also discussed the key messages from her presentation on harnessing technology to deliver greater efficiency and as an workforce attraction strategy:
Thank you Sue Macri! Great to see more people shouting that we need a better workforce strategy for aged care. It’s scary to think how many opportunities are being missed for marketing and recruiting because many think that it’s too hard especially in an under-resourced, and in a sector that has a low professional reputation.
There are so many people out there (me included) who are trying to make positive changes in this area and it’s great to see this message being promoted by AAA!
You’ll get a quality workforce if you raise the wages and make the training better along with registering care staff. At the moment anybody can be a carer and anybody with little other options does because of this, which means you don’t get people that really want to do the job – its because theres no other job they can get. They’ve raised the bar somewhat in children’s services now they need to do the same for aged care. I’ve still got my old wage slips and the pay has only gone up a little in 20yrs. Respect the workers and they will hopefully give back ten fold. This should apply to all staff; especially in the kitchen where often the food is terrible – again if the staff were paid a decent wage maybe better meals would be produced. In any case if you raise the wages and create better training schemes it will come across as a better industry to work in and you will be able to pick and choose staff more. Also, by registering carers it will make it harder for poor ones to move from job to job.