Lack of affordable housing compounds aged care recruitment challenges

A new report reveals just how disadvantaged aged care workers are when it comes to housing, and how providers are getting creative in their efforts to provide housing for staff in a tough recruitment environment. The report, titled ‘Priced Out’, prepared by Everybody’s Home, the national campaign to end the housing crisis, reveals aged care workers are spending on average 65% of their income on rent, leaving little for living expenses. The report compares rent with award wages for 15 types of essential worker, including aged care workers, and includes aged care worker case studies from Not For Profit aged care providers St Vincent’s Care Services and Benetas.

Benetas CEO Sandra Hills OAM is quoted in the report saying, “At the moment, we have a number of employees wanting to work at our St Laurence Court Eaglehawk home in Bendigo but are finding it extremely difficult to find affordable places to rent or are having to commute every day from Melbourne. “We will be doing all we can – including re-purposing our independent living units – to make it possible for our incredible carers to do their job for the sake of our residents and their loved ones.”

The report’s authors say the Federal Government should build 25,000 social homes every year for essential workers. You can read the report in full here.