00:01The aged care sector is really worried that proposed cuts to migration announced by Labor,
00:07the Coalition and One Nation would worsen staff shortages across the sector in Australia.
00:15Now, Ageing Australia says that 51% of its workforce in Australia is born overseas.
00:23And the demand for workers in aged care is only going to continue to grow as the population continues to
00:32age.
00:33Now, Ageing Australia has come together with our independent economic think tank,
00:38the Committee of Economic Development of Australia,
00:42and they're asking the government to provide a dedicated visa that provides a pathway for care workers to come to
00:50Australia.
00:51They really want a visa pipeline that isn't tied to broader migration policies
00:57so that people who are care workers can come straight over here to Australia on this dedicated visa
01:03rather than coming over here on a temporary visa like that of a partner or a student visa
01:10which a lot of care workers come over to Australia on.
01:14Let's take a listen to what the CEO of Ageing Australia had to say.
01:18We haven't got enough staff to run our services at 100% as it is,
01:23and we need another 110,000 people by the end of this decade alone just to keep up with demand.
01:30So if immigration is cut in a way that impacts us,
01:33and remember a lot of the people who are here on things like student visas,
01:36they might be studying for an accounting degree, but they're working in aged care while they're doing that.
01:41So all immigration policy has an impact on us.
01:45You know, if we reduce those numbers, we're going to have a real problem.
01:49Older people are already struggling to get in our doors.
01:51They are going to struggle even more if we do anything to negatively impact our workforce.
01:56The sector says any sharp cuts to the number of migrants that are coming to Australia announced in policy
02:04would only worsen the level of care provided to older Australians.
02:08We hope so for more interesting things to notice.
02:09So there is a lot of parents.
