Some senior Australians are struggling to get the support they need from the aged care sector despite major increases in funding and reform.

New analysis by the Ageing Research Collaborative at the University of Technology Sydney showed more than half of aged care providers are failing to meet mandated care requirements. 

Since October 1 last year, residential aged care providers have been required to provide an average of 200 minutes of direct care per person every day. Forty of which must be delivered by a registered nurse. 

Chief executive of the Council on the Ageing Patricia Sparrow is deeply concerned. 

“The care minutes are an important part of making sure that older people in residential aged care are getting the right level of care or getting good quality care. We know from the Royal Commission that hasn’t been happening,” Ms Sparrow told the ABC. 

“It seems from the data that’s been released that we’re seeing that it’s in metropolitan areas and also that it’s for-profit providers who aren’t meeting it.”

A new report from the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) found 97 per cent of aged care providers were concerned about increasing costs. 

Nearly half of nursing homes operate on a loss for their everyday living services and accommodation. Some said they were using previous funding, provided to ease understaffing, to stop the bleeding and turn over a small profit to stay alive. 

New governmental reform in response to the The Aged Care Taskforce aims to aid all involved which will see future-admitted senior Australians make means-tested contributions to daily living costs while residential homes will retain a small portion of otherwise refundable accommodation to improve their facilities and continue to provide quality care. 

Additionally, the Albanese Government recently pledged to invest $3.8 billion over the next four years. 

Federal Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells expects the new investment to support the recruitment and retention of aged care workers and deliver consistently high staffed quality care for older Australians.

The investment adds to the $11.3 billion commitment made in the previous year to increase award wage by 15 per cent.

ACCPA chief executive Tom Symondson commended the government for putting older Australians first and believes the new legislation is addressing the problems in aged care. 

“Of course there is more to be done … but this is a critical step in that journey, a step that many believed might never happen,” Mr Symondson said. 

“We will need at least ten thousand new beds to be opened per year for the next two decades to keep up with demand, and today we are closing more than we’re opening. We need investment to turn the situation around, and this legislation will enable that.”

However, not everyone remains so optimistic. Many young carers still feel there is more to be done to support residential aged care staff. 

Recent Curtin University nursing graduate Imogen Marks said she is passionate about caring for the elderly but has no intention of ever working in aged care. 

“Nurses and carers are not being paid nearly enough to justify the work they do,” Ms Marks said.

“Often aged care staff are stretched so thin they’re simply unable to perform basic hygiene tasks like toileting and showering for all their residents within a reasonable timeframe.

“It’s devastating. No one deserves to be left dirty for a long period of time just because there’s no staff to help clean you up.”

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported 43,000 job vacancies in aged care last year with no planned wage increases for workers in the government’s aged care reform roadmap going forward. 

The report also found 85 per cent of staff work part-time and a lack of young people in the sector. 

Marks believes it’s possible to create better opportunities for aged care employees, noting some major private providers are still turning over large profits while remaining understaffed. 

A Curtin University nursing student who’d prefer to remain anonymous says many nursing students rescind their interest in residential aged care after undergoing their required placement experience. 

“Residents are paying to stay at a place that should resemble their home, where they trust facilities to help them continue to live their normal lives and the lack of staff means care is delayed, rushed or even missed completely. It is truly shocking to see the way some residents are looked after and treated by staff.”

The student added it’s common for graduating student nurses to dismiss aged care roles as they often hinder future employability:  “It feels like more modern workplaces where more advanced nursing skills are practised, tend to hire nurses who’ve had experience in a variety of different areas and aged care doesn’t exactly fall into this category.

“I think the government needs to focus on each individual facility rather than the minutes of care a resident receives. What good is increased time spent on care, when that care is below the standard or is demoralising to the resident?”