Extend Fair Work pay bump to retirement village care workers, says RLC

The Retirement Living Council (RLC) is seeking an extension of the Fair Work Commission’s decision on aged care worker pay to apply to care staff in retirement villages as well. Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has told the RLC and village residents that the Government’s commitment to fully fund the outcome of the FWC case does not extend to retirement villages.

“The Government’s funding commitment in relation to the FWC work value case extends only to the aged care services funded by the Commonwealth, such as residential aged care and home care packages,” she said.

RLC Executive Chair Daniel Gannon (pictured) told The Weekly SOURCE that a lack of understanding about the differences and connections between aged care homes and retirement villages is leading to “sub-standard outcomes”, and that a pay bump for village workers will assist in continuum-of-care.

“We’re still making representations to federal parliamentarians, because the last thing that residents should be expecting right now is for more costs to be passed onto them. But that’s the reality in villages when they’re funded by residents and not funded by taxpayers. “This entire case is focused on whether or not those important workers who are providing care across the country are being rewarded enough financially. What we’ve been saying to the government is that this is quite a complex case because there are different levels of care that are provided in retirement villages as opposed to and exclusively just aged care facilities,” he said.

The Fair Work Commission handed down an interim 15% pay rise to frontline aged care staff only late last year, which the Government is looking to implement in stages.