JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
THE HON. KEVIN ANDREWS MP
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
SENATOR THE HON. MITCH FIFIELD
ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
GOVERNMENT MOVES TO ENSURE AGED CARE ELECTION COMMITMENTS ARE KEPT
Today the Government moved a disallowance motion in the House of Representatives to remove instruments created by the previous government to establish the Aged Care Workforce Supplement. The motion was passed by the House.
Under Labor, the Aged Care Workforce Supplement could only be accessed by certain providers after they had entered into Enterprise Bargaining Agreements with unions.
It was a flawed and inequitable system with a clear objective of coercing union membership in the sector. The Government suspended applications for the Supplement in September.
Prior to the election, we made a commitment to develop a better way to distribute this Supplement.
The Government is committed to putting the funds back into the general aged care pool and to consult with the sector about the best way to do so.
Earlier this week the Opposition made an attempt to govern from the grave by moving its own disallowance motion in the Senate to prevent the Government from meeting its election commitment of suspending applications for the Supplement.
It was this ham-fisted attempt to prevent the Government from meeting its promises to the Australian people which required this action to occur in the House of Representatives.
Disallowing the instruments that created the Workforce Supplement will mean there is no longer a legislative basis on which to pay the Supplement.
Transitional arrangements will be put in place to enable the 12 providers currently in receipt of the Supplement to make the final reconciliation of the December 2013 payments and any further payments.
The Opposition’s scare mongering claims that we will dump Veterans and Dementia supplements are also untrue.
It’s time Labor stopped creating uncertainty for the aged care sector in this attempt to pursue their industrial agenda.
12 December 2013