“Aged care as it is today […] I can’t see it happening,” says Dan Minchin, CEO of Chorus WA.
Chorus is an aged care, disability, and mental health services organisation within Western Australia.
In February, the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage published its latest series of the Western Australia Tomorrow Population Report predicting WA’s population to exceed 3.5 million people in 2036.
20 per cent of this population is predicted to be over the age of 65.
This begs the question will WA’s fragile aged care system be able to cope?
According to Minchin, the struggle has already begun.
“There currently just isn’t the workforce to meet the need that exists within Western Australia,” he says.
Like other aged care providers, Chorus is finding it tough to service the age care demand.
According to a 2022 report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, the industry is currently dealing with an average annual staff turnover rate of around 38 per cent.
Minchin says this will only worsen with time and population growth.
A nationwide issue
Figures from the government’s Care Workforce Labour Market Study, which covers all industries of care within Australia including aged care, shows that by 2028 there will be a 100,000-person gap in the national aged care workforce.
Experts within the government and Royal Commission argue that the lack of staffing in this sector can be directly linked to its poor quality.
As of July 1, 2023, at least one registered nurse is required in every aged care residence 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
As it stands today many residencies are finding it tough to abide by the act.
Without at least one registered nurse on standby 24/7 the quality of care within these homes begins to drop and leaving residents vulnerable to health risks.
Unattractive career path
Jordan Irvine is a nursing student in her final year at ECU and says aged care isn’t a popular choice among her peers.
“Coming into our final year at uni we’re all needing to decide what department we’re wanting to specialise in, and I don’t think many, if any, are choosing aged care” she says.
“I think there isn’t enough of an incentive for people to work in aged care and staffing is becoming a real issue,” she says.
Currently age care is one of the lowest paid nursing sectors, with those working in aged care homes earning up to five dollars less an hour than those working in hospital aged care.
The Australian Nursing Federation has only just recently accepted a new pay deal, ending a bitter 18-month stalemate between the WA nurses and the state government.
The new pay deal will see every nurse receive an additional $700 and $1400 a year due to a new professional development allowance as well as a 3 per cent pay rise.
However, even with the increase, Western Australian nurses will remain the lowest paid in the country.
Sophie D’addario is a carer in a Western Australian aged care home and a third year Nursing student at Notre Dame.
Like Ms Irvine, she agrees the pay rise is welcomed but still isn’t enough.
Both students agree an increase in wages is a vital part to keeping nurses in aged care homes. But it is not just about pay.
Extreme physical and emotional stress, and increasingly poor working conditions make aged care less attractive to future nurses.
Ms Irvine described the sector as one of the most tolling within the nursing industry.
Specifically in palliative care, patients are often unable to move on their own, requiring up to four nurses to move them during daily tasks.
Although Ms D’addario admits nursing aged care graduate programs are being created to entice students, she says this isn’t enough.
Both Ms D’addario and Ms Irvine agree the aged care industry will struggle as the population ages, saying something will need to change to increase its workforce.
It takes a village
Dan Minchin also explained that staffing isn’t the only factor to blame when it comes to the fragility of the WA aged care system.
The Royal Commission into the aged care quality and safety found that the current compliance regime in the industry is inadequate.
The commission has recommended more compliance within the sector to increase quality of service and the safety of patrons.
However, Minchin argues that the system needs a radical change, not just compliance, to ensure the sustainability of the aged care system.
Minchin further proposed the idea of reframing the public identity of aged care system or more as he calls it “a revolution” in order to fulfill this change and evolve with the population.
Currently, aged care is seen as a government run service or, as Minchin describes it, a “product”.
The aged care sector is predominantly covered or looked after by government funding.
As the population grows and the cost of services rises the quality and care in this sector will decrease without community support.
The idea of aged care needs to shift into a community focused undertaking.
Much like the age old saying that “it takes a village to raise a baby” it should be the same when caring for our elderly.
Once we shift this idea of aged care being solely provided by the government, we can have a healthy balance of government and community support.
It’s all about becoming more of an interconnected community, while this change will be radical, the idea to support our elderly as a community shouldn’t be shunned.
