Illawarra aged care workers and providers have supported the federal government's move to recommend a "significant, meaningful" increase in aged care workers' wages.
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On Sunday, aged care minister Anika Wells set out the government's position.
Illawarra aged care worker Shellee Gibson welcomed the announcement.
"It's about time," she said. "We've been fighting for a long time and we need a pay rise, or everyone's going to leave."
A final determination is not expected before 2023, and with the Illawarra already experiencing a shortage of aged care beds and more facing closure, Warrigal CEO Mark Sewell said the government shouldn't wait for a decision from the Fair Work Commission before taking action.
"The new wage decision is being made next year, lots of providers won't last til then," he said. "The government should give short term, interim grants, particularly [to cover] wages."
Mr Sewell said he was pleased with the government's position and highlighted the language used could spur a proper evaluation of the work staff in aged care facilities do.
"The word meaningful is interesting because it's not just about being rewarded for extra hard work," he said.
"The aged care award hasn't had a work value assessment for a long time."
The Fair Work Commission is currently assessing a case brought by unions to re-evaluate the wages for workers in the aged care sector.
Aged care staff are some of the lowest paid workers in Australia, and unions are pushing for a 25 per cent pay rise, to bring nurses and care workers into line with the hospital and disability care sectors.
As part of the case, the Fair Work Commission is conducting a work value assessment, which takes into account how the work of aged care staff is valued by the community and those living in aged care facilities.
The highly technical, and detailed process will provide input for the final determination of how much more aged care staff should be paid.
Ms Gibson said she is hoping for at minimum a five per cent increase, an amount that would be "massive" for staff and residents.
"We wanted to get treated better, the residents want to get treated better, [but] we can't do that if we're on minimum wage," she said.
The government has committed to funding the final Fair Work Commission decision and has instituted a 10 per cent increase in funding per patient from October 1, as well as a code of conduct and star ratings for providers.
Ms Gibson said she and her colleagues felt that change was finally coming to the sector.
"Everything seems to be moving forward."
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