The facility is in Rockhampton, which the statement describes as a “vibrant river city located along the Tropic of Capricorn in the heart of Australia’s Sunshine State” with a warm climate.
“It’s an ideal place to live, work and play.”
Responding to the advert, Minister for Seniors and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the company was offering “incentives to try and get people to move to Rockhampton, seven hours north of Brisbane. It’s not the Gold Coast”.
“It’s not unusual for Australian employers to look to New Zealand or for our workers to look at opportunities there. As long as we have a single labour market there’s going to be a movement back and forth.”
This latest recruitment drive comes as New Zealand’s aged care sector faces shortfalls.
The first phase of a review of the sector, completed in December, found the sector was underfunded, current funding distribution models were no longer fit for purpose and there were material ethnic inequities and significant workforce pressures.
Aged Care Association chief executive Tracey Martin said the current state of the sector had the group “deeply concerned”.
She said the sector faced shortages in skilled staff which was partly linked to pay parity issues with the public health system as aged care facilities struggled to compete with hospital wages.
“Aged care providers are under increasing financial strain, as government funding has not kept pace with the rising costs of care, nor does it cover any capital investment such as facility maintenance or upgrades or building new beds – despite a severe looming bed shortage.
“For example, we are forecast to be short by 12,000 aged residential care beds in just eight years.”
Martin said the increasing prevalence of dementia was also putting additional pressure on aged care providers.
Parliament is running an aged care inquiry focused on how it assists people with early-onset conditions like dementia as part of the National/NZ First coalition agreement.
“There are insufficient specialised facilities and support for psychogeriatric care, and many facilities are not equipped to handle complex cases, especially those involving behavioural challenges and substance withdrawal.”
Labour’s associate health spokeswoman Tracey McLellan said we needed more people working in aged care in New Zealand, not less.
“We must value and pay aged care workers better.
“With job losses and underfunding in the health sector here, it’s not surprising to see Australia – a country with a highly unionised workforce and better pay and working conditions – trying to make the most of it and entice people over.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
