Interstate nurses, personal care workers and cleaners will be offered $5,000 payments to move to Victoria and work in aged care homes, under a Preparedness Plan to be announced by the Federal Department of Health today.
The incentive scheme comes as staff shortages continue throughout the sector with a majority of workers forced into isolation due to COVID-19 infection or close contact, including the entire workforce at St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner.
“You will be provided with accommodation near the service where you will be working, and daily transport to and from work,” a briefing document seen on Thursday by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age said.
This incentive scheme forms part of a broader Preparedness Plan which includes setting up rapid response centres to handle outbreaks in every State and Territory and arrangements to transfer residents to private hospitals if they test positive for COVID-19.
