New National Day To Celebrate Aged Care Employees

Aged Care Employees Day is an official day to thank, honour, recognise and celebrate the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the aged care industry across Australia.

What is Aged Care Employees Day?

Aged Care employees make a profound difference to the lives of others every day. Aged Care Employees Day is a new official day to pay tribute to these unsung heroes and thank them for caring for older people across Australia.

This is a day designed to celebrate each and every team member involved in the journey of caring for people who receive aged care services – from the nurses and care workers, to the cooks and hospitality teams, to the drivers, cleaners and laundry employees, to the volunteers, to the leisure and lifestyle officers and administration teams.

Aged Care Employees Day puts these heroes in the spotlight, celebrates them, and highlights the many different roles of those involved in the aged care journey.

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How did Aged Care Employees Day start?

Aged Care Employee Day was created by the team at an Australian Not-for-Profit aged care provider, Whiddon. For a long time, they’d felt that some of most unsung heroes in the community were aged care employees.

While within their organisation they had always recognised and acknowledged their people, including celebrating days like International Nurses Day, they wanted to go a step further and dedicate a new day to celebrate the incredible contributions of all aged care employees.

Understanding the Aged Care Workforce

Everyone who works in aged care, be it residential care or home care, contributes to the overarching care and wellbeing of older people, and this new day is to celebrate the entire workforce.

Over 8-in-10 employees in the aged care workforce work in roles outside of a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or nurse practitioner and it is incredibly important that the role each and every employee plays, including our nurses, is recognised and celebrated. 

“The value of the Personal Care Worker is underestimated. Personal Care Workers form the majority of the aged care workforce and are the eyes and ears of the entire aged care system” – The Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce (2018)

The individuals who make up the above workforce all have a valuable and essential role to play in caring for our elders, and it is time to recognise the entire group for the difference they make to our communities.

* Table 3.2, 2016 National Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey – The Aged Care Workforce, 2016

** Table 3.4, 2016 National Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey – The Aged Care Workforce, 2016