Archived Media Releases: 4 September 2008

Urgent action needed in aged care - ANF

The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) said today that Federal Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot’s comments regarding the tough action being taken in the aged care industry would not address the mounting crisis unless it was backed by decisive action that leads to the recruitment and retention of more nurses to the sector.

Ged Kearney, ANF Federal Secretary, said that until the federal government takes effective action to address ongoing workforce shortages the crisis in aged care will continue to worsen.

“This situation cannot continue – we cannot keep seeing older Australians with complex health needs being put at risk by an over stretched, underfunded workforce. Minister Elliot said that she is determined to put older Australians first – the government must act now to ensure a workforce of highly skilled, highly educated nurses are available to work in aged care.”

The ANF said nurses working in aged care are at breaking point because of impossible workloads, a lack of support, and chronically poor pay and conditions. Sanctions and withholding funding will not resolve the problems, only addressing the workforce issues will lead to high quality care being provided for older Australians with complicated health care needs.

“There are residents in these facilities who continue to need quality nursing care, the ANF once again calls on the government to urgently make a commitment to solving the aged care crisis for Australia’s elderly by acting to close the wages gap, implement minimum staffing levels and skills mix in aged care.”

“The new federal government has an opportunity to end this crisis and ensure the highest quality of care for all Australians in residential aged care. Surely the continuing evidence is enough to convince them that the time is now to act on this issue.”

Media Contacts
Ged Kearney, Federal Secretary 0417 053 322
Lee Thomas, Assistant Federal Secretary, 0419 576 590
Libby Muir, Communications Officer, 0413 834 979

The ANF, with 170,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses and midwives in Australia.