Earlier this month I received notice from my mother’s Aged Care Provider advising they were increasing their fees from 1 January 2025 in response to, among other things, “increased award wages, following the Fair Work Commission’s Aged Care Work Value Case decision.”
Interestingly, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is $47,621.60 per year, $1,831.60 per fortnight, or $24.10 an hour; whereas the Carer Allowance (CA) is a meagre $3,991.00 per year, $153.50 per fortnight, or just a paltry 46 cents an hour.
Carer Allowance (CA) is just 8.38% of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), Carer Payment (CP) 62.48% and the JobSeeker Payment (JSP) 42.96%.
In justifying the fee increases, the Aged Care Provider went on to state, “the change to our fee schedule is based on several factors. It is in response to reform and regulatory compliance (that) will allow us to maintain a skilled team of support people, (the) increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and (more) importantly, it will ensure we can continue to deliver unique, personalised care that is designed around you.”
Unlike Aged Care Providers, Primary Carers actually provide the “unique (and) personalised care" designed around and for the ones they care for and know better than anyone; in addition to guaranteeing consistency, regularity, familiarity and reliability of service.
Increasing fees is just another slap-in-the-face, an insult, and an injustice to all that Primary, Family and Kinship Carers do 24/7, 365 days a year - unlike paid support workers who get to go home after working just 38 hours a week.
Whilst carers saddle the burden of underpinning the aged care, NDIS (disability), health and social service sectors, paid support workers continue to receive just, fair, and proper respect, recognition, financial remuneration, statutory, legal and other entitlements and benefits – including superannuation, parental leave, etc.
Carers continue to be exploited as a hidden workforce pure and simple; their personal, family, social, financial efforts and sacrifices neither properly, ethically, or morally requited, let alone recognised.
The Aged Care and NDIS systems are industries geared to profit making and are continually taking truck loads of money unchecked from the Australian taxpayer.
So it begs the question as to why the government continues to ply funds into these ailing, often abused and misused care systems when the hard earned dollars of the Australian taxpayer would be better directed to the proper remuneration of Primary Carers?
Both systems are open to abuse and rorting simply because they can be, it’s legal, and it’s condoned by the government.
Many of these care providers have lost sight of their original purpose and are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of making a dollar.
Using my own carer experience as a case study of sorts I have set down what I do in a typical week, every week, in my caring roll, and costed what the government would expend on having an Aged Care Provider doing exactly the same things. (CLICK LINK TO VIEW / DOWNLOAD)
The Aged Care Provider would be making $16,883.75 a week, or $877,955.00 a year whereas I get just $76.75 a week, or $3,991.00 year.
Aged Care Providers charge a mileage charge in addition to a service charge; whereas the $153.50 I get a fortnight isn’t even enough to keep my car on the road; I’m out-of-pocket to the tune of $1,336.12 a year.
It makes more sense to give Primary Carers more money to encourage them to do as much as they can to keep their loved one’s at home before burdening the Australian taxpayer.
Primary Carers save the Australian government and taxpayers conservatively between $77.9 to a staggering $126.2 billion dollars a year with each carer worth a salary of at least $29,396.23 a year.
When Carer Allowance (CA) started in 1999 it was set at the rate of $75.60 per fortnight, or $1,960.40 per year which was equal to 25% of the combined Age Pension partnered rate of $7,841.60 per year.
Twenty-five percent (25%) of the current combined Age Pension partnered rate of $44,855.20 per year, or $1,725.20 per fortnight, amounts to $431.30 per fortnight, or $11,213.80 per year which is just over 2.8 times the current level of payment of the Carer Allowance (CA).
Primary Carers need, and quite rightly deserve the same respect, legal recognition and comparable financial remuneration as paid support workers; they should be valued, not taken advantage of.
The time to do something is now!
We know you care, and now more than ever – and along with the 25,000+ people who have already signed – we need your support.
Please help carers in our campaign for proper recognition and appropriate remuneration by signing and sharing my national Petition with your family, friends and contacts.
After all, you never know when you might find yourself a carer or in urgent need of one.