Woman jailed for attempting to suffocate father in Queensland aged care home

Rebecca Burden was visiting her brain-injured dad for the first time in six months when she says he asked her to kill him

A Brisbane woman has been jailed for at least 10 months after admitting a lapse of judgment when she tried to suffocate her brain-injured father.

Rebecca Louise Burden was visiting 68-year-old Steven Burden for the first time she was permitted after Covid-19 restrictions lifted at his aged care home when she says he asked her to kill him.

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Covid deaths in aged care reach almost 100 a week as active cases surge across Australia

Rising case numbers and death rates prompt fears that two-thirds of providers could be grappling with outbreaks in next six weeks

Almost 100 aged care residents are dying from Covid each week with active cases linked to the more than 700 current outbreaks in facilities reaching near-record levels for 2022, data shows.

An analysis of government data on Covid in aged care shows a worrying surge in the weekly number of deaths, number of active outbreaks, and cases among residents.

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Australia’s aged care homes urged to speed up fourth-dose Covid boosters as outbreaks and deaths rise

Federal ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells warn providers with low vaccination rates will have to explain themselves

Ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells have told aged care providers to act “with a sense of urgency” and speed up their fourth-dose Covid vaccinations as the sector continues to grapple with almost 700 outbreaks and a growing death toll.

The aged care ministers have also warned providers with low vaccination rates they would be required to explain themselves and show how they would turn around sluggish booster rates.

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‘Shocking’ rate of sexual abuse against aged care residents barely changed since royal commission

Peak rights group for older Australians demands urgent change after 530 incidents of sexual abuse reported in last quarter of 2021

More than 500 cases of sexual abuse against aged care residents were reported in the last three months of 2021, a rate largely unchanged since the royal commission dubbed the prevalence of sexual crimes in residential care a “source of national shame”.

Experts say victims, many of whom live with dementia, are still being failed by systems not equipped to recognise or respond to crimes against those with serious cognitive impairment.

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Australian federal election 2022 live: Plibersek says Albanese has a ‘tough job’ as polls tighten

AEC concedes some Covid-positive Australians ‘may not be able to vote’: prime minister responds after Labor announces policy costings; Covid and illness lead to drop in working hours; nation records at least 52 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s developments live

Scott and Jenny Morrison are visiting Whitemore in the Labor-held electorate of Lyons in Tasmania this morning.

Brian Mitchell holds Lyons on a margin of 5.2%, although his buffer was inflated by the disendorsement of his Liberal opponent mid-campaign in 2019 for anti-Islamic social media posts. Morrison is still on the offence, seeking gains to offset expected losses elsewhere.

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Over 70% of Australia’s aged care workers yet to receive $800 pandemic bonus, poll suggests

Union poll finds majority of members have not yet received any payment as aged care peak body says both parties fall short on policy

More than 70% of aged care workers are yet to receive a single payment through the Morrison government’s pandemic bonus scheme four months after it was announced, staff polling suggests.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced in January up to $800 would be made available to aged care workers through a bonus scheme designed to recognise their efforts in the pandemic and stem the loss of workers from the sector.

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More regional aged care homes to close unless government funds pay rise, experts say

With around two-thirds of regional nursing homes operating at a loss, industry says ‘the crisis is upon us, but it’s going to get worse’

Many more rural Australians may have no choice but to spend their final years away from their families and communities given two-thirds of regional aged care homes are operating at a loss.

Closures are already happening and will accelerate if the next federal government fails to properly fund a pay rise for aged care workers, experts say.

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Thousands of shocking reports reveal extent of Australian aged care residents’ suffering due to understaffing

More than 6,500 reports of distressed and neglected residents and unsafe conditions the ‘tip of the iceberg’, union says

More than 6,500 reports of understaffing and unsafe conditions in Australia’s aged care sector, including hundreds of reports of resident injuries, will be handed to the regulator on Wednesday.

The reports, from United Workers Union (UWU) whistleblower site Aged Care Watch, identified thousands of instances of aged care residents’ safety suffering due to unfilled shifts and understaffing.

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Aged care sector questions Coalition claim home care workforce has grown by almost 15%

Providers say they continue to face severe staffing challenges and ‘are not aware of any data that reflects this level of growth’

The aged care sector has questioned the Coalition’s claims that the home care workforce has increased by almost 15% in a matter of months, saying the figures appear at odds with the “severe staffing challenges” it is experiencing.

Aged care providers have repeatedly warned of the staffing crisis facing the sector, including in critically important home care services, where staffing issues have compromised the ability to provide some forms of support to older Australians in their own home.

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Broken Hill nursing home bracing for ‘worst-case scenario’ after four residents die from Covid

Nurses are being flown in from interstate amid staffing shortage after 30 positive cases reported, including inside the Alzheimer’s unit

Nurses are being flown in from interstate to ease staffing shortages at a far western New South Wales aged care facility where four residents have died with Covid over the past fortnight.

The fourth death at St Anne’s in Broken Hill was confirmed on Wednesday after the outbreak first hit the facility in late March, with 30 people so far testing positive.

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Aged care sector calls for funding detail on election commitments

Major parties urged to spell out more policy and make system sustainable, as Anglicare launches wage-rise campaign for carers

Health advocates have welcomed the elevation of aged care as a headline issue early in the federal election campaign, backing Labor’s policy pledges but warning that changes could have “unintended consequences” without further consultation.

One leading aged care voice has challenged both major parties to outline exactly how they plan to fund the sector against the backdrop of an ageing Australian population, claiming current rules would see the pay of nursing home staff go backwards this year.

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Aged care bodies and unions demand Coalition match Labor’s pledge to fund potential wage rises

Federal opposition says it will pay any increase ordered by Fair Work Commission but Coalition has stopped short of such a guarantee

Aged care industry bodies and unions have criticised the Morrison government for failing to commit to fully fund any pay increases ordered as a result of the sector’s work value case.

Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Leading Age Services Australia (Lasa) have both warned that providers would not be able to pay the increase meaning the industrial tribunal would need to order a smaller rise – or operators could be forced to close.

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Labor has no plans to increase taxes on Australians if elected, Jim Chalmers says

Shadow treasurer moves to make Labor policy crystal clear after Coalition seizes on ambiguity in Anthony Albanese’s comments

Labor has no plans to increase taxes on Australians and will look to lift foreign aid if elected in May, the shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said.

The senior frontbencher said on Sunday that federal Labor’s only tax proposal was to crack down on multinational tax avoidance.

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Budget reply speech: Anthony Albanese pledges $2.5bn extra for struggling aged care system

Federal Labor leader says if Australians want higher standards in aged care ‘we need to support higher wages for our carers’

Anthony Albanese has pledged to spend an extra $2.5bn fixing the problems in aged care if Labor is elected – as the major parties accelerate towards a campaign contest to be called within days.

The federal opposition leader used his budget reply speech on Thursday night – a set-piece that followed a historic address to the Australian parliament by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy – to outbid the Morrison government on the policy response to the royal commission into aged care quality and safety.

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Morrison government predicts unemployment will drop to 50-year low as it spruiks pre-election budget

Treasurer’s office says dip to last years, as Labor points to stagnant wages and vows to lift them

Josh Frydenberg’s pre-election budget will project Australia’s unemployment rate will drop to 3.75% this year, its lowest figure in 50 years, with the Coalition to talk up a “remarkable” post-pandemic recovery.

The treasurer’s fourth federal budget will also fund an extra 15,000 subsidised training courses for aged care workers, in a nearly $50m promise to boost the sector’s workforce.

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Aged care workers struggle to cover basics as low wages and rising living costs take toll

Full-time income of a single parent worker not enough for essential expenses, Australian Aged Care Collaboration report reveals

Aged care workers are being priced out of their communities, with low wages and rising living costs leaving a worker in a typical two-parent household with $34 of disposable income each week, and a single parent full-time worker unable to cover basic expenses.

The findings come from a report published on Wednesday by the Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC), a group of six aged care peak bodies. The report compared average wages for workers in the residential and home care sectors against key cost of living indicators including average rents, childcare expenses, grocery costs, and petrol.

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‘A real kick in the guts’: elderly couples forced apart as NSW regional aged care homes close

When Anglican Care closes facility in Bulahdelah, some will have to travel over 75km to Taree to visit their partner

The closure of the Bulahdelah’s Cedar Wharf Lodge will see elderly couples torn apart, unable to visit each other as limited transport options hinder travel to the New South Wales Hunter region aged care home.

Since Anglican Care announced the closure of the town’s only aged care facility this week, some in the community will be left travelling over 75km to the nearest aged care facility in Taree to visit their partner.

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Australia news live updates: Morrison’s jobs goal prompts reaction while handling of Covid in aged care under scrutiny

ACTU’s Sally McManus says PM’s plan to lower unemployment rates doesn’t necessarily mean better pay or security – follow all the day’s news

Morrison is asked about the question he was unable to answer yesterday - the cost of basics like bread and petrol and, in this day and age, rapid antigen tests. Morrison says he “didn’t hear” the question about RATs.

To be honest, I heard bread and milk on the question yesterday, it was a pretty robust and torrid time at the press club yesterday, I must admit I didn’t hear the question about rats, that’s the honest truth. Didn’t hear it. It’s about $15-$20 and they can be less than that ... if it gets above that they will be coming after those who are price gouging, so to be honest I didn’t hear that part of the question, I heard bread and milk and for the record, it depends which bread.

Little milk comes from a cow anymore, there are so many different things that people have available but if it’s two, three bucks, you can get petrol from $1.60 to $1.80. That’s what it is. It’s one of those old things they do with the press club to make a bit of a headline.

No, I haven’t had the opportunity to do that but I appreciate what Gladys said yesterday in our own dealings with each other ... I think we work very positively and I think we work very well together as a premier and PM to do very great things from New South Wales in particular ... I can’t speak to the other things that are all anonymous and she doesn’t recollect it but it’s certainly not a conversation we have ever had.

People say nasty things about the prime minister all the time, they say nasty things about people in the media – just switch on social media. You will get yourself quite a giggle and I get one all the time. It goes with the job.

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Australia news live updates: protests as prime minister grilled at National Press Club; 77 Covid deaths nationally; RBA ends bond buying

Scott Morrison announces packages for aged care and NDIS as anti-vaccine protesters mass outside the National Press Club; 77 Covid deaths recorded across NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Follow updates live

O’Neil:

A pay rise that lasts up until the next election is a cynical political ploy, because we know this plan ... will not do anything more than hold this thing together by a thread.

The truth is that the aged-care sector – the average experience of a person in aged care today is one of neglect.

The truth is that we have a crisis in aged care that has been eight years in the making.

Scott Morrison has cut aged-care funding personally as treasurer twice. One of the first actions of the incoming government was to cut the wages of aged-care staff and now we are expected to believe that this is going to make a difference?

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Aged care workers to get bonus payments as Morrison government tries to claw back support

Prime minister announces bonuses of up to $800 for more than 230,000 staff but union says ‘trinkets are not required when diamonds are needed’

Aged care workers will receive two pre-election bonus payments worth up to $800 in total as the federal government seeks to claw back public support for its troubled pandemic response.

Ahead of a major speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced on Monday night that the bonus would be paid to more than 230,000 aged care workers in government-subsidised home care and to residential aged care staff providing “direct care, food or cleaning services”.

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