Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I table the motion to disallow the Residential Care Subsidy Amendment (Workforce Supplement) Principle 2013 [F2013L01225], the Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy Workforce Supplement Amount) Determination 2013 [F2013L01251], Division 2.5 of the Aged Care (Flexible Care Subsidy Amount Multi-Purpose Services) Determination 2013 (No. 2) [F2013L01347] and Division 2.4 of the Aged Care (Home Care Subsidy Amount) Determination 2013 [F2013L01339].

These instruments were introduced by the former government to provide legislative basis for the aged-care workforce supplement in residential care, home care and multipurpose services. However, the supplement did not guarantee improved pay and conditions for all aged-care workers. Many providers could not justify applying because the supplement would not have covered their additional costs of implementing the supplement. For many providers the funding was also conditional upon the signing of an enterprise bargaining agreement. This government, when in opposition, promised to oppose this 'unionism by stealth'. Less than one per cent of aged-care providers had applied for the supplement as at 26 September 2013. As the majority of aged-care providers were not willing to apply for the supplement it was never going to reach the majority of aged-care workers. For these reasons we suspended the application process for the supplement on 26 September 2013 and are now seeking to disallow it. Over the coming months the government will work in partnership with key stakeholders on how to apply these funds in a more flexible and better targeted way.

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