NZACA Welcomes HRC Inquiry Finding For Increased Government Funding

The New Zealand Aged Care Association welcomes the main finding from the Human Rights Commission report that recommends increasing government funding by up to $140 million to support pay parity with staff employed by District Health Boards.

The NZACA, which represents aged care providers, has been urging the government for the last six years to increase caregiver wages to bring them up to the level of those employed by DHBs.

“In response to the report we also welcome the Minister’s promise to close the pay gap when the country returns to surplus in 2014 and the Prime Minister’s focus on pricing restrictions in the aged care sector.”

“New Zealand needs to look to the long-term. A grey tsunami is coming. We will need to increase the number of caregivers in this industry to ensure that we are prepared for the coming decades, and pay parity is a key component to ensure that this achievable,” Mr Martin Taylor, the Chief Executive of the NZACA, said.

“It also needs to be understood that aged-care providers have played their part by passing on funding increases to staff. This has resulted in wages going up by over 28 percent since 2005, which is well ahead of wage inflation at 20 percent.”

ENDS

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