Aged care providers, residents and families are invited to join the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) and say a giant ‘thanks for caring’ to our dedicated and compassionate aged care staff to mark Aged Care Employee Day on 7 August 2022.
This will be the fourth time we have celebrated our thousands of aged care workers with Aged Care Employee Day (ACED) which this year falls on Sunday 7 August.
ACCPA Interim CEO Paul Sadler said workers in aged care had gone above and beyond the call of duty in this past year while staff in NSW and Queensland affected by floods continue to face immense challenges in providing protection for older Australians in their care.
“Aged Care Employee Day has become an important date in our calendar and reminds us of the caring and professional work of our aged care staff who are our care ‘superheroes’ who make the lives of older Australians better,” Mr Sadler says.
“Our staff have faced the most challenging of conditions during this pandemic and were tested to their limits with the COVID-19 Omicron wave over summer. Many lived on site to continue providing essential care to their loved older residents while colleagues were struck down with Covid or forced to isolate.
“We want our residents and clients, their families and friends, to join us in saying ‘thank you for a job well done’ and recognise the hard work of aged care staff in caring for our loved ones.
“Be they personal carers, nurses, kitchen and laundry staff, diversion therapy staff, allied health professionals, administrators, gardeners or volunteers they have all worked above and beyond the call of duty to keep our vulnerable older Australians care for and safe.”
An Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) Cost of living analysis released in March 2022 showed the lowest paid of our aged care workers are left with little to spend each week after paying daily living expenses. The AACC election campaign focused on securing commitments from the major parties to fully fund a pay increase for staff.
“As we approach Aged Care Employee Day on 7 August, we want to keep in mind the almighty effort put in by aged care workers and encourage the public to take a moment and say, ‘thank you for caring’,” Mr Sadler said.
“We also want to encourage aged care staff to take a moment for themselves to regroup, take a breath, and refresh either with family, a favourite past-time or recreation and recharge.
“They all deserve our thanks for their professionalism, their warmth, and their enthusiasm to help older Australians live comfortably.
“ACCPA congratulates our aged care heroes for their dedication, their compassion and their hard work and we encourage the public to give them the recognition they deserve.”
To get involved and say ‘thanks for caring’ please email your photos and videos to "> And for some tips on how to mark the day and make a video have a look at the Aged Care Employee Day website.
