The Aged Care Minister’s assurances that an 11.9% funding increase will be enough to cover higher costs and the Fair Work Commission’s 15% pay rise for aged care workers don’t “add up”, says the CEO of WA home care and disability support provider Community Vision Australia (CVA), Yvonne Timson (pictured above).
“We’re absolutely grateful for the increase. But we need to be more transparent and honest in what it is covering and what it’s not covering,” she said.
Of the Government grants intended to make up any shortfall, Yvonne says there is not enough information available to determine if they will be sufficient.
“The devil’s in the detail. Until I see the grant application, it’s hard to say either way. They’ve not published fully those grants yet so it’s hard to say what they are.”
SERVICES CUT
The Minister’s recent letter to home care consumers promised services would not be cut, but Yvonne said rising costs and funding not keeping pace means services are likely to be reduced.
“We have to work really closely with our customers to... assess their assessed needs, to go back to their original assessment, to talk to them about their needs and wants, and really try to work cleverly and more smartly within the budgets because ultimately as costs increase, even what they can purchase within their packages is increasing... but the caps on what we can charge are still capped, ultimately there is only one thing that can happen.
“You have to change how those services are being delivered and the amount.”
CONFUSING COMMUNICATION
The Government’s communication with consumers about the funding changes has been “confusing”, Yvonne said.
Consumers “want to see the support workers get an increase in wages” but they “hear on budget day [the Government is] going to fully fund the 15% [pay rise]. Then they get letters from Anika Wells talking about 11.9% and articles here talking about 3.3% and 8.3%,” Yvonne said.
By writing to consumers before explaining the changes to providers, the Government has made it “harder” for providers, she said.
Yvonne said the 15% pay rise for home care workers will divide her workforce at a time when every worker is needed.
“I’ve now got a disparity across my business. I’ve got the direct care [staff] automatically getting an uplift, but I need to manage the expectations of my customer service officers, my IT, my finance, because they’re still a critical part of the team, but I’m not getting any funding to increase their salaries.
"In a sector where we’re really struggling with a skill shortage and a workforce issue, that’s only going to compound issues.”
