Union says 71% of voters are in favour of 25% aged care wage rise, yet is any party listening?

The Health Services Union (HSU) is arguing aged care will be a “vote changer” in the upcoming May Federal election after it conducted a poll showing 62% of Australians believe Federal Government funding for aged care should be increased.

The poll by JWS Research – which doesn’t disclose how many people were surveyed – found only 15% believed Federal funding for aged care was about right, 3% wanted a decrease, and 19% were undecided.

Interestingly, support for an increase was higher in 17 swing electorates (74%) and among Labor voters (73%).

The poll also showed that 71% of Australians supported a 25% wage increase for aged care workers when they were told this was the equivalent to an increase of between $5.40 and $7.20 per hour, to increase the average wage to $29 per hour. 7% were opposed while 21% were neutral or undecided.

46% of voters also agreed that they would be more likely to vote for a party or candidate who supports increased Federal Government funding for aged care (versus 2% less likely, 40% no difference, 11% undecided). In the 17 swing electorates, this climbed to 55%.

The issue, however, is that neither the Coalition nor the Opposition has agreed to support the case for a 25% wage increase put by the unions to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), with Labor only promising to make a submission in favour of an unnamed rise if it wins power.

A 25% increase is also an unheard-of amount for the FWC – unless the party in power gave it their backing.

The unions aren’t giving up, though. HSU National President Gerard Hayes (pictured above) said:

“It’s simply inexplicable that Scott Morrison and the Liberals are yet to back the HSU case for a decent aged care wage rise. They won’t even commit to funding the outcome of a wage rise awarded by the Fair Work Commission. We will be reminding the public of this every day until the federal election.

“These poll results are also a clear warning for Labor politicians. Labor needs to be clear on its commitment to aged care or it will risk losing support to those independents and minor parties who do.

“Aged care funding is a vote changer at this election. The sooner politicians realise this and commit to a wage rise, the better.”

Expect to hear more on this issue, then.