Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kept his 2022 election commitment to fully fund the outcome of the ANMF's $2 million aged care work value case.
Depending on classification, private aged care nurses and personal care workers are earning between 22 to 30 per cent more than they were two years ago.
Since early 2023 members working in aged care are now $20,000 a year better off as a full-time RN, $17,000 as a full-time EN and $13,000 a year as a full-time PCW.
These once-in-a-generation pay increases are due to the ANMF’s $2 million aged care work value case in the Fair Work Commission, the Albanese Government’s commitment to boost aged care nurses’ and carers’ wages by fully funding the Fair Work Commission’s pay increase decision and the pay increases ANMF negotiates in enterprise agreements.
Since the introduction of the Howard Coalition government’s Aged Care Act 1997, ANMF and our members tirelessly campaigned to put nurses back into private and not-for-profit aged care and to value aged care nurses and carers’ work with fair pay increases.
Going into the May 2022 election, the Labor Party led by Anthony Albanese was the first party this century to make aged care an election issue.
In contrast the Morrison Coalition Liberal government refused to support and fund the FWC’s aged care work value case pay rise decisions. It also refused to mandate the aged care royal commission’s full care minutes and 24/7 RN recommendations. Both improvements have been implemented by the Albanese Government.
And the Albanese Government has kept its promises. The FWC’s decisions saw a 15 per cent increase for all aged care nurses and carers on award rates in July 2023. Following ANMF lobbying, this translated to the equivalent dollar increase for the majority of ANMF’s Victorian members who are employed under enterprise agreements not the award.
The Fair Work Commission decided further increases for carers from 1 January 2025 and for nurses from 1 March 2025. As per its election commitment, the Albanese Labor Government fully funded all these increases at a cost of $17.7 billion. This doesn’t include other improvements to aged care such as mandated care minutes and 24/7 RNs.
And there is more to come. Further Aged Care Work Value case wage increases scheduled in October 2025 (for nurses and carers) and in August 2026 (for nurses only) will require billions more in extra Commonwealth funding. The Albanese Government has committed in the March federal budget to fund these increases.
Flow on effect to public and private acute and mental health nurses
The aged care work-value increases have also been the foundation of the new wages that ANMF negotiated for Victoria’s public sector EBA, which is delivering a 28.4% (compounded) wage increase for 60,000+ nurses and midwives between 2024 and 2027.
This win has flowed onto members in Bush Nursing Hospitals and public mental health nurses. At the time of publication ANMF is still in discussions with the Victorian Government over the timing of mental health nurses’ wage increases to be more in line with general nurses.
The aged care work value case and the public sector wages outcome have given ANMF leverage in early private acute negotiations, such as Healthe Care and St Vincent’s Private, to secure parity increases over two-year agreements. ANMF will need to negotiate further uplifts in new agreements in 2026 and 2027.
Negotiations will also take place this year for Epworth (ongoing with pay parity in their current offer), Aurora, St John of God (EBA expires 30 June), Healthscope (EBA expires 30 June), Ramsay (expires 30 September) and Cabrini (expires 31 October).
For nurses and midwives employed under the general Nurses Award, such as practice nurses and midwives in smaller private health services, ANMF has another case in the FWC to increase wages by up to 35 per cent.
Authorised L. Fitzpatrick, Secretary, Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation, 535 Elizabeth St, Melbourne VIC 3000
