One of the points to come out of the evidence at last week’s hearing was the fact that New Zealand’s much-lauded 2017 equal pay settlement for aged care and disability workers has failed to attract and retain workers – despite raising wages between 15 and 50% for workers.
Associate Professor in Workplace Relations at Auckland University of Technology, Dr Katherine Ravenswood (pictured above) put this down to a range of reasons – but particularly singled out the lack of a social campaign to change the perception of aged care work.
“The settlement and ensuing legislation was rushed through by government in the space of two to three months,” she told Counsel Assisting Erin Hill. “It placed undue pressure on employers and on people in the sector and didn’t allow time for the – really for the social campaign around valuing the work and the workers and, of course, the clients that they care for. And I think those pressures and the underfunding and rushing it through has probably contributed to some of the lack of change in social attitudes towards these workers.”
Dr Ravenswood argued that while Government is ultimately responsible for changing labour standards, they are directed by voters – so you need a social campaign to change the community’s thinking – ideally led by the Government.
Check out this clip (pictured below) that the Senior Counsel showed to the hearing room here.
It is a video from the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) adult social care (aged care) National Recruitment Campaign which was launched in February 2019.
The UK aged care workforce is not so dissimilar to Australia – at any one time, they have around 110,000 vacancies and a 30% turnover.
The website-based campaign – titled ‘Every Day is Different’ – features stories from real people working in caring roles as well as a quiz to see if you are suited to care work and links to job opportunities and other resources.
It is specifically targeted at younger people aged 20 to 39 because research showed this group was the most likely to consider a role in adult social care in the next 12 months.
The website was supported by social media, digital and local radio advertising, outdoor posters and events across England with providers encouraged to engage with the campaign by providing case studies, advertising their vacancies on Government’s ‘Find a Job’ website and promoting social media content using the hashtag #shareifyoucare.
Have a look at the site here.
It’s basic by website standards – but it has worked.
The first phase of the campaign led to a 97% increase in searches for jobs containing ‘care’ or ‘care worker’.
There was also a 14% uplift in clicks on the apply button for care roles on ‘Find a Job’, while 26% of employers surveyed after the initial rollout saw an increase in either enquiries, applications, interviews or vacancies filled.
The DHSC has now moved into the second phase of the campaign, with new advertising on outdoor posters, online TV adverts, radio, social media and digital channels, as well as PR and partnerships activity.
Simple yet effective.
As Mr Rozen concluded: “It could potentially or something along those lines could be adapted for Australian conditions and reproduced in the form of an application for smart phone use. This would not be particularly costly, and it would be a tangible and practical demonstration of Commonwealth Government leadership in the sector.”
It would also require the support of the sector – but given the staffing figures outlined in yesterday’s newsletter, what provider would not want to be involved?
