Unions call for ADF support amid Canberra aged care COVID outbreak

Providers and unions also want the federal government to fund additional direct payments for staff to secure the workforce.

In the ACT most aged care homes have been exposed to COVID-19, as facilities struggle to keep Omicron out.

Some residents in aged care across Canberra remain in isolation after a confirmed 14 homes battle cases of COVID-19.

This comes after ACT Health announced on Tuesday that a woman in her 80s had died in a residential aged care home in Canberra.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Nursery and Midwifery Federation, Health Services Union, United Workers Union, and the Australian Workers Union with the Australian Aged Care Collaboration released a statement on Wednesday.

"The escalating crisis in aged care has left services around the country reeling, putting care for older Australians at risk due to chronic staffing shortages. Older people are at risk of missing out on essential care because of this. Lockdowns are restricting many residents to their rooms as services work to keep them safe," the statement said.

"With severe staff shortages happening across all sectors, services for older Australians must be prioritised. There are services that older people depend on that are not being delivered simply because there is not enough staff."

The unions claimed aged care staff were "burnt out" and there had been widespread reports of resignations.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said deploying the defence force to help in aged care would not solve the workforce shortage.

"[The ADF] can't just make those problems go away, there will continue to be challenges in aged care," he said.

"That is a problem of the virus and it's a problem that has been seen in many jurisdictions."

Meanwhile, the federal government has activated an agreement which will see up to 57,000 nurses and more than 100,000 staff from private hospitals made available to aged care homes around the country.

"It's a workforce which is skilled, planned, appropriate and available," Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Tuesday.

"The states and territories will, where necessary, work directly with the staff and with the hospitals themselves ... it will be up to the states and territories to activate those."

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In the joint statement, unions and providers said they acknowledged this announcement and would "await more detail about how this will operate".

"Over a thousand aged care services around Australia are already dealing with an Omicron outbreak. We expect many, many more to be affected over the coming days," the statement said.

"Aged care staff are exhausted and burnt out, with many working for days around the clock. Resignations due to fatigue and feeling undervalued have begun. This is just the beginning. There is no adequate staffing safety net.

"To deliver quality care, we need urgent action from the federal government and a wage boost to secure the workforce in the form of a COVID-19 wage payment paid directly to workers."

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