Australia's aged care sector has received a lifeline from the federal government, with this year's budget confirming more funding, ABC News reports.
Under the changes, aged care will receive $36.03 billion for 2023-24, an increase of $5.06 billion compared to the previous year.
A bulk of this — $11.3 billion — will be dedicated to providing the sector's 250,000-strong workforce with a 15 per cent pay rise.
"This pay rise will help retain, reward and recruit the hard working people who care for our loved ones as they grow old," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said during his budget speech.
"The message from our government to the aged care workers of Australia is very simple: You deserve every cent."
The federal government's investment comes after the sector has struggled for decades.
Earlier this year, government data showed that Australian aged care lost over $465 million during the first quarter of the 2023 financial year — equating to a daily shortfall of $27.90 per resident and an annual loss of almost $1.9 billion.
While this support from the government has been welcomed by the aged care sector, it's not clear that it's enough.
Grant Corderoy is a senior partner at StewartBrown, a chartered accountancy firm that specialises in aged care.
He says that while the support for workers is "good news for the residents, the residents' family, and also for the staff", the budget allocation is not enough to provide financial stability for the sector.
Corderoy says that, over the last six years, the cost of Australian aged care's underfunding and operating losses have aggregated to over $5 billion.
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The pressure of unstable revenue is worsened by stable costs.(The Orchards Aged Care)
