Australia news live: aged care workers to receive pay rise of up to 28.5%; NSW records four lithium-ion battery fires in a day

Key events

Exclusion of indirect care workers from aged care pay rise ‘a lost opportunity’, Centre for Future Work director says

Dr Fiona McDonald, policy director at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, has commented on the aged care pay rise.

McDonald said:

Today’s decision is crucial to supporting safe and quality care for elderly Australians, and the sustainability of the aged care workforce. For too long, aged care work has been undervalued and low paid. The Fair Work Commission’s decision to award additional pay rises, on top of an interim 15% wage rise, is vital to fixing this.

The introduction of a new classification structure will also provide the basis for the ongoing recognition and valuation of aged care work.

It’s essential the federal government commits to fully funding the additional increases of up to 13.5% from the start of the next financial year.

The exclusion of indirect care workers from today’s decision is a lost opportunity to support the lowest paid workers.

Hello, I’m here to take you through the news until this evening.

Thanks for joining me on the blog today. Handing over to Jordyn Beazley who will take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care, and have a great weekend.

Optus investigating issue affecting Victorian exchange

Optus said it is aware of an issue impacting some customers – specifically, with calls to and from 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers hosted off an exchange in Victoria.

The company wrote on X:

We apologise for the inconvenience this is causing. Our team is actively working to resolve the issue and restore services as quickly as possible … We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Government needs to explain why Australia reinstated UNRWA funding before United States: Birmingham

Taking questions from reporters, Simon Birmingham said the Coalition is “not comfortable” with assurances that Penny Wong says she has received, in relation to safeguards for the funding to UNRWA.

Birmingham said:

How can we believe that Australia – through our contribution – is going to be able to have the leverage and influence around tough enough conditions and strong enough verifications to have them upheld when a country like the United States – a far bigger contributor – continues to withhold the funding, pending completion of the independent review?

Penny Wong should be releasing the advice that she’s relied upon. She should be detailing the assurances she’s had. She should be making clear what verification measures are in place. And should be outlining why it is that Australia has decided to act outside and out of step with the United States when, by acting out of step with the US, we are failing to take advantage of the type of leverage that could get more effective outcomes.

Coalition does not support decision to reinstate UNRWA funding 'at this time'

The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, is speaking to the media from Adelaide, following the government’s earlier announcement it would reinstate funding for UNRWA.

He said the Coalition does not support the decision, and said:

The need for Hamas to be defeated is clear. The need for humanitarian assistance to flow to the people in Gaza is also clear. However, the allegations made against [UNRWA] that they had employees who participated in the October 7 terrorist attacks are the most grievous of allegations, and they come after longstanding concerns that have been made and raised about the way in which UNRWA operates and the lack of impartiality that appears to come from UNRWA.

The Coalition does not support the decision of the Albanese government to reinstate funding at this time ahead of the conclusion of the review into UNRWA’s staff involvement in the terrorist activities of October 7, ahead of any clarity about the way in which UNRWA is implicated in any way through its staff or otherwise in promoting or inciting terrorism.

We do not support the Albanese government in acting without and ahead of the United States in terms of decisions around this funding.

At her earlier press conference, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the “best available current advice” from agencies and government lawyers was that UNRWA “is not a terrorist organisation”.

Forestry Corp fined for destroying wildlife habitat

NSW’s Forestry Corporation has been fined $45,000 and accused of blatant disregard for the environment after tearing down protected habitat trees, AAP reports.

The state-owned logging outfit tried to blame the destruction on the failure of mapping software, but the Environment Protection Authority found it continued to use the system despite prior knowledge of problems.

The fines relate to two breaches in two state forests in 2023.

At Nadgee state forest on the south coast, 15 trees and other vegetation were destroyed inside an environmentally significant area. Forestry operations were banned in that area to protect hollow trees that are crucial for wildlife.

The other offence happened in the Bagawa state forest near Coffs Harbour. In that case, the Forestry Corporation illegally removed a tree on a steep slope, breaching its obligations to prevent erosion.

The $45,000 fines relate to two breaches in two state forests in 2023. Photograph: Simon Scott/The Guardian

The EPA’s executive director of operations, Jason Gordon, said forestry operations were subject to strict rules for good reason and the breaches showed “blatant disregard” for the environment:

In no circumstances should 15 trees have been removed from an environmentally significant area. FCNSW claimed the Nadgee state forest issue arose due to a mapping software failure, however our investigations found the software problem was known prior.

AAP has sought comment from Forestry Corporation, which is a state government-owned entity.

Finishing his speech in Sydney, Gerard Hayes has been thanking a wide range of people for their work to achieve this result:

I would like to thank everybody who’s here. I would like to thank all our members, no matter what part of the country that you are in. Dignity comes to aged care. People – older people – will not be treated as commodities. They will be cared for in their older years. We have an ageing population. This will go a long way to ensure that people can age with dignity and people can care for people without going into poverty.

Average pay increase of 23% for direct care workers

The Fair Work Commission expert panel has adopted a new benchmark pay rate of $1,223.90 a week – or $63,6642.8 a year – for certificate III qualified employees.

The total wage increase which will be produced by the adoption of this benchmark rate, inclusive of the interim increase, will be 23%.

The new benchmark rate was “appropriately justified by work value reasons” and would ensure aged care employees “have an entitlement to a minimum award wage rate which properly reflects the value of their work, including their exercise of ‘invisible’ skills, and which has been assessed on a gender-neutral basis”.

Aged care pay rise ‘best outcome union has achieved’, says HSU president

The Health Services Union president, Gerard Hayes, said the pay rise awarded to direct aged care staff is “one of the best outcomes this union has ever achieved”.

Speaking in Sydney, following the release of the Fair Work Commission ruling, he said:

I’d like to thank everybody who has worked so hard for so long. This is one of the best outcomes this union has ever achieved, and it’s only because of the people in this room, the people who have fought for the last decade, the people who gave evidence from November 2020 to where we are today. And many people think that Rome was built in a day – well, you all have shown that it’s not. It takes commitment, it takes drive, to achieve an outcome.

More on the direct aged care workers pay rise

The Fair Work Commission expert panel found that the work of aged care sector employees has historically been undervalued because of assumptions based on gender.

Minimum pay rates for nurses failed to properly recognise the addition to work value effected by the transformation of nursing into a profession, it found.

As a result of today’s decision, personal care workers will receive an increase of between 18.2% and 28.5%, depending on their skill and qualification level, and inclusive of the 15% already ordered.

Assistants in nursing will get between 17.9% and 24.5%. Home care workers will get between 13.3% and 26.1%.

The expert panel found that indirect care employees, such as administrative workers and those providing food services, “do not perform work of equivalent value to direct care employees” justifying equal rates of pay.

Indirect care workers were awarded a 3% pay increase reflecting some higher duties such as infection prevention and control. Laundry hands, cleaners and food services assistants who interact with residents significantly more regularly were awarded 6.96%.

Aged care workers will receive a pay rise of up to 28.5%. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP