industry & reform
on the industry . This is because the government brings every policy down to specific detail , and the providers and employees lose their autonomy in the role .
They ’ re basically forced to read off of scripts .
If we keep doing that and we ’ re not getting the outcomes we want , there should be a time when people realise that more regulation is just making the problem worse .
What are some of the fundamental issues behind this regulatory framework ? A part of the issue is that we ’ re still contracting out these services , so while we can do that , we ’ ll have to continue to rely on this regulatory framework . Adopting a leaner approach in which we service in Australia might reduce the heavy regulatory framework is worth considering .
As we know , the government contracts services to private companies , not-for-profit companies and a range of public companies . Once the government hands it over to the contractor , they have a very limited ability to control how the services are implemented .
Because there ’ s no specific requirement around how they ’ ll implement their procedures and policies , we end up seeing this underfunding flow through .
Plus , it takes away from the organisations ’ ability to maintain their profits .
Overall , we see managerialism and underfunding in the sector . The facilities are often understaffed , and we see this in how employees feel undervalued .
So , everything stems from this austerity policy development . Even though the government has increased funding for aged care , it will just have a superficial effect on the industry .
Do you think the pay rise will make much of a difference ? It ’ s not going to do very much at all .
Let ’ s look at current pay . Current pay for an aged care worker on the award is $ 23.57 – that ’ s the same level for a contract cleaner .
While any pay rise is welcomed , it ’ s going to do a little to improve the perception of our aged care workers and how valued they feel in their roles .
The 15 per cent increase in July will take us to $ 27 , 11 . Whether that ’ s a good increase or not – it ’ s not for me to say – it ’ s certainly not the percentage they ’ re asking for .
Generally , aged care workers are expected to do more and more what ’ s above their pay .
There ’ s this diminished opportunity for them to provide meaningful and holistic care because they ’ ve got these administrative boundaries , and not to mention , they ’ re also not trained well enough .
The training needs to be improved to be able to deliver the care that they want .
All these things together impact morale and how satisfied employees are with
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Adopting a leaner approach in which we service in Australia might reduce the heavy regulatory framework
their jobs . And this is why we see so many leaving every year . It all stems from how they ’ re treated . But on a deeper level – it ’ s not about their pay . Yes , it might attract some of them to take up the work in the first place . But the central issue is how they get into the workforce , and there ’ s so much shock about the job , the expectations and poor conditions . The pay increase is just one small thing . A more holistic approach is needed if we want to attract more and retain our good quality workers . And that ’ s going to need to look at all those things like the work conditions – the opportunity for development .
One of the big things that keeps someone in a role is that opportunity for development and the perception that the organisation cares about your wellbeing .
And of all of the research that ’ s been done , one of the loudest things that I hear is the organisation doesn ’ t care .
Would having fewer rules and regulations would improve aged care ? There ’ s definitely a balancing act – I ’ m not by any means suggesting that we remove the regulatory framework .
I can only speculate on what it would look like if the regulatory framework were to be reduced .
But what I can say is that , right now , the framework is not working .
We still have just as many issues with quality as we did under previous governments , and it ’ s getting worse and worse .
It ’ s all about how and which framework is implemented , and the current burden of paperwork that needs to be completed and the red tape associated with that is too much .
We can get better in the way in which we operationalise the framework .
We should streamline the amount of paperwork as much as possible and try to reduce that burden on each one of the facilities . That would be a good start .
We should also reassess the quality framework and identify what it ’ s currently not working . ■ agedcareinsite . com . au 15