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Update: $800 payment for aged care workforce retention

Nursing staff working in aged care, including PCs/AINs, RNs and ENs, may be eligible to receive two retention bonuses over the coming months. The two stand-alone payments are intended to ensure continuity of the direct care workforce in aged care in both residential and home care settings.

So far, we know the following about these payments:

  • Full-time nursing staff in residential care facilities will receive a payment of up to $800 after tax per quarter, paid for two quarters.
  • Full-time home care nursing staff will receive payments of up to $600 after tax per quarter, paid for two quarters.
  • Part-time nursing staff will receive a pro-rata payment for the amount of time you work. For example, if you work two days a week, you’ll receive 40 per cent of the payment. The government has also stated there will be a pro rata payment for eligible casual workers, but has not released any details on this yet.
  • Payments are expected to be made in June and September for the preceding three-month period.

How will I receive these payments?

According to information published by the federal government, payments will be delivered to employers, with the expectation that your employer will pass this payment on to you.

ThE ANMF is currently seeking further clarification from the federal government around exactly how these payments will work. For example, we do not yet know how an ‘eligible casual worker’ will be defined, or whether agency nursing staff will receive these payments. We also do not know how employers will be forced to pass on the payments to workers.

Ultimately, it is nursing staff who will keep our residents safe through this difficult time, so it is essential these payments end up in the pockets of aged care nursing staff, and are not hoarded by providers.

The ANMF will update members as soon as we have more information.

You can read more about what the federal government is doing to support the aged care workforce by clicking here.


Thank you to the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU) for sharing this information with us.