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Summer 2003

Will the aged care industry be next for INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTS?

In the process of enterprise bargaining, the Federal Government is currently trying to force individual contracts on a whole sector of the Australian economy; the higher education sector.

The question is, will the aged care sector be next?

Brendan Nelson, Federal Minister for Education, has threatened to cut $400 million in funding from universities unless they adopted new workplace relations requirements, including individual contracts.

"The requirements are unfair, discriminatory and extremist. The regulations specifically aim to erode long-standing benefits like redundancy pay and to promote the use of casual labour," ACTU President, Sharan Burrow said.

"Collective agreements would become worthless for any staff forced onto individual contracts which would override existing arrangements."

Study after study has shown that in both the short and long term, individual contracts reduce wages and slow the spread of improvements in conditions.

The changes proposed by the Federal Government would contravene internationally recognised rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

But the crucial issue for aged care workers is that we could be next.

What is to stop the Federal Government from withholding funding from the aged care sector until they offer individual contracts?