Fund the outcome of the Fair Work Commission's decision on the Aged Care Work Value Case.
The Government will provide $515.0 million over 5 years from 2022-23 (and $956.9 million over 10 years from 2022-23) to fund the outcome of the Fair Work Commission's decision on the Aged Care Work Value Case. The decision was to increase award wages by 15 per cent from 30 June 2023 for many aged care workers including registered nurses, enrolled nurses, assistants in nursing, personal care workers, home care workers, recreational activity officers, and some head chefs and cooks. Funding includes:
* $311.2 million for a new grant program for Commonwealth Home Support Programme providers to cover the cost of the increase in award wages
* $98.7 million for a new grant program to fund historical leave provisions for Commonwealth-funded aged care providers
* $58.9 million for a targeted indexation boost to funding for the Indigenous Employment Initiative, Multi-Purpose Service Program, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program, and Trusted Indigenous Facilitators program
* $6.7 million for a transition grant to provide temporary viability support for residential aged care providers
* $2.0 million for a transition grant to cover any potential shortfall for care recipients under the Home Care Packages Program
* $37.4 million in implementation costs for the Department of Health and Aged Care and Services Australia. This measure will be partially offset by redirecting funding from the 2023-24 Budget measure titled Improving the Investment in Aged Care. The Budget also includes $10.9 billion over 5 years from 2022-23 (and $29.2 billion over 10 years from 2022-23) to meet the cost of the Aged Care Work Value case with funding to other aged care programs including residential aged care and the Home Care Packages Program, which will be delivered through increases that will flow through program indexation.