Aged care providers in five states are being investigated to ensure staff are receiving the right pay and entitlements.

Investigations of 20 organisations by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) focus on pay and entitlements for personal care workers, nurses, and nursing assistants providing direct care to older people in their homes and at residential aged care facilities.

Providers under investigation are in Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. Visits began in late February and continued during March and are ongoing.

Improving compliance in the aged care sector was one of the regulator’s priorities, said Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth. “Hard-working aged care workers must be paid all that they are owed under their awards, agreements and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards.”

“If we find breaches, our first aim is to ensure that workers are fully and promptly back paid. If we find employers with significant compliance issues, we’ll consider our enforcement tools as appropriate.”

Those selected for inspection by FWO include where there has been a history of non-compliance with the Fair Work Act, and anonymous reports from staff members amongst other intelligence.

In 2023-24, the FWO recovered more than $40.5 million for over 22,000 underpaid aged care workers in residential aged care. Common issues for aged care workers include the underpayment of base rates of pay, non-payment for overtime and penalty rates, non-payment of allowances, and non- payment of final entitlements upon leaving their employment.

Changes to classifications and minimum pay rates for some employees in the aged care sector took effect in 2025.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is represented on an Aged Care Services Reference Group established by the FWO to support compliance with workplace laws.