98% of aged care providers pass on workers pay rises in full
The Aged Care Wages Attestation Data report is available here
Since the first quarter of 2023-24, the Government has required aged care providers to pledge that they have passed on all additional Government funding to cover the Fair Work Commission's wage increase to aged care workers. Providers are required to submit the data in their Quarterly Financial Report, and the data has been published. It shows 672 listed providers, with nine not answering the Yes/No question, three answering No, and the remainder - 660 - answering Yes. The Department of Health and Aged Care said providers may have "justifiable reasons" to attest ‘No’ to passing on all additional funding, including:
- not delivering services in the quarter,
- a new or closing service, and
- the provider not directly employing workers.
In the Department of Health and Aged Care’s post-Budget briefing following the 2024-25 Federal Budget, Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said providers will be required to attest that they have passed on the full increase in Government funding for wages onto staff.
“The worst case scenario is that if you attest that you have passed on the money to workers and are found to have lied, there will be criminal penalties for that,” she said.
The Aged Care Wages Attestation Data report is available here.
