Nurses believe Govt is listening to aged care campaign
The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) is confident that the Rudd Government has been paying attention to its aged care campaign.
The federation’s national secretary, Ged Kearney, said the campaign has been well received by senior government figures including Health and Ageing Minister, Nicola Roxon.
“Our main message is that we need to close the wages gap and instigate minimum staffing and skill levels. Neither of those options is cheap but we would appreciate some acknowledgement of those issues in the budget.”
In the current stage of the ‘Because we care’ campaign, the ANF has been encouraging aged care staff members and community supporters to send postcards to their local MPs.
“We are very pleased with how the campaign has been going,” Ms Kearney said.
“There is broad public and community support for our objectives and the message is being received from the prime minister’s office right down to the various committees and senators.”
The federation is currently preparing its submission for the coming budget ahead of its campaign in the lead up to next year’s election.
