Seniors link better pay to improved care quality

Around two thirds of the 4,425 older Australians surveyed by advocacy organisation National Seniors Australia believe higher pay, improved conditions and career development for aged care workers is very important. Less than 3 per cent found it to be not important at all.

More than 600 respondents of the National Seniors Social Survey also supplied comments raising concern that poor pay conditions contribute to chronic understaffing, ultimately impacting the quality of care.

These results reinforce the importance older Australians place on workforce quality, NSA chief executive officer Chris Grice said.

“Older people want to see aged care workers treated better and better supported to do their absolute best for older Australians entrusted into their care,” he said.

Ongoing training of staff important to older adults

Survey respondents were also overwhelmingly in support of aged care workers being well trained in all aspects of the job, with 91.5 per cent rating relevant training prior to commencing the job as very important.

Receiving further support for training was also considered very important by 77 per cent of survey participants. Support for dementia training specifically was seen as important by almost all respondents (98 per cent).

But formal qualifications were seen as less important than training, with 150 commenters viewing inherent personal traits as more important and something that cannot be taught. NSA links this to concerns raised by survey participants that the workforce is overpopulated by people who need a job but are not well suited to the work.

“The results of our survey reinforce older Australians highly value aged care workers and believe they need better support. While we know people who work in aged care must have formal qualifications, it was interesting (but not surprising) to see older Australians also place importance on inherent qualities that can’t be learned such as kindness, patience, and attentiveness. After all, aged care workers care for some of the most vulnerable people in our community, regularly, including in their own homes – they form and build relationships during this time. It stands to reason these attributes are as important as qualifications,” Mr Grice told Australian Ageing Agenda.

“As the findings reveal, older Australians believe people who work in aged care could be better supported in terms of training, including specialised dementia training, improved conditions, and remuneration. While aged care workers received a pay increase in 2025, in addition to an increase in 2023,  it is critical their remuneration continues to reflect the important work they do while also helping to attract and retain workers to a sector that is constantly crying out for workers. These are shared responsibilities between government and providers that need to implemented at a policy level as well as a cultural level,” he added.

Diversional therapists or dietitians were among other roles participants expressed support for employment in aged care facilities, along with palliative care and intensive care specialists on a strategic basis.

Respondents also agreed on the importance of continuity of carers as a way of building trust and better enabling staff to notice changes in an individual’s wellbeing.

Workforce diversity deemed important, but shared language critical

The importance of workforce diversity and homogeneity was also surveyed, with 65 per cent indicating workers and the older people they care for should speak the same language.

Those who provided extra comments also emphasised the common language should be spoken fluently by both parties with mutually comprehensible accents so communication is clear, mistakes are minimal, and relationships can develop.

Only 25 per cent thought the worker’s cultural background and country of origin should be the same as the client but 57 per cent viewed it as desirable where possible. In contrast, just 15 per cent felt it was important for the aged care workforce and clients to come from a variety of cultural and social backgrounds but 48 per cent thought it was desirable where possible.

NSA suggests this means workforce diversity in general is important and that the best solution may be for individual facilities, services, communities and client groups to decide on what mix of worker backgrounds suits them best.

“Given Australia is wonderfully multicultural, many older Australians recognise the benefits and realities of a diverse workforce,” Mr Grice said.

“But because language is key to communication, we must find ways to ensure aged care workers and clients can always understand each other.

“We often talk about the failures of the aged care system without recognising the special people doing the important work within it. As our research reveals, aged care workers are valued and should have the support to reflect this.”

The report makes the following 10 recommendations:

1. governments and providers should continue to improve workers’ pay, working conditions and career opportunities – commensurate with the importance of their work to older people, and to help attract high-quality employees
2. governments, providers, and workers’ organisations should come together to improve the image of aged care work in the public eye
3. educational institutions and providers should work together to ensure workers receive comprehensive training in all areas of aged care prior to starting in their role and receive support to undertake further training
4. providers should exercise active discernment when recruiting employees to ensure they possess inherent traits that make them well-suited to working in aged care, including compassion, patience, empathy, and respect for older people
5. governments should help aged care facilities strategically evaluate what services they need to provide high level care, such as diversional therapy, dietitian oversight of food, palliative care, and intensive care
6. governments should continue to require most aged care facilities to have a registered nurse on duty 24/7, and more if the number of residents requires it
7. governments should also make continuing and not time-limited exemptions to the 24/7 registered nurse requirement for facilities outside metropolitan areas that would otherwise be forced to close, and help ensure suitable alternatives and grant extra funding to meet the requirement
8. governments should incentivise providers to continue employing the same group of carers so that clients can form trusting relationships
9. governments should assist providers to recruit a workforce that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for their actual and potential client base
10. governments, providers, and educational institutions should work together to find solutions to problems posed by language differences.

Access the full report here.

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