‘It is not the pay rises in the public sector that are to blame for staffing shortages in residential aged care’, ANF national secretary Jill Iliffe said, ‘but the appalling salaries paid in the residential aged care sector. Is the Minister aware that nurses in the residential aged care sector on average earn $237.64 less a week than nurses in the public sector?’

The wage disparity has grown in recent years despite targeted government assistance to aged care providers to improve wages. ‘The Minister should be more concerned about what has become of the $211 million his government gave to aged care providers in the 2002/03 federal budget and the additional $877.8 million in 2004/05 to improve the wages in aged care’, Ms Iliffe said.

In 2002 the wages gap between nurses working in residential aged care and those working in the public sector was $84.48 per week nationally. The wages gap in 2006 is $237.64 per week nationally.

Ms Iliffe said nursing is a regulated profession that demands a high level of education and training and fulfills an essential community service. ‘Nurses in every area of our health care system deserve a fair and equitable rate of pay and decent working conditions,’ Ms Iliffe said. ‘Nurses salaries are no greater than most other health professionals and are significantly less than some’.

Ms Iliffe said Senator Santoro should be sending a more positive message to employers in the aged care sector to value the work of nurses and provide competitive wages.