Newly named Aged Care Minister Anika Wells says in-home care and stemming worker shortages are key priorities for the new government.
Provision of high-quality in-home aged care services and recruitment of tens of thousands of new workers to, said Australia needed a major stream of new workers to support elderly and vulnerable people over the coming decades, and Labor was committed to implementing the findings of the landmark royal commission report.
“I actually worked in aged care when I was putting myself through uni, so I do have some shop floor experience in aged care, albeit that was in the late 2000s. And I’m sure that things look a little bit different now,” Ms Wells said.“My mum worked in aged care for more than 10 years before she retired, so there is a bit of family history in the area.”
“At the moment, I just don’t feel like people who work in aged care or who would consider working in aged care really feel like that position is valued enough by our society, so we have to do that too.” “The care economy was at the heart of the Labor pitch for the election and it should be top of its agenda in government. We’d also like to see the aged care portfolio be a dedicated role elevated to a cabinet level,” interim chief executive Paul Sadler said.