The shift to customer-centred funding models has sometimes resulted in new pressures on the care and support workforce. For example, many people receiving care and support may want care and support in the mornings and evenings, which can lead to split shifts for workers.
Additionally, when funding is provided for specific services and the pricing is set only for the time taken to deliver those services, this can result in pressure for workers to be employed on a casual basis or (instead) engaged as independent contractors with minimal shift requirements. It also means that funding may not be provided for activities that are an essential part of the work, such as travel between appointments or completing regulatory requirements and appropriate record-keeping.
Recent years have seen an increase in digital platforms being used to engage workers, in what is often called the ‘gig economy.’ There are a variety of platform-based providers in the care and support economy. While some are registered providers with employees, operating in a more traditional model, others connect consumers directly with care and support workers, who then generally work as independent contractors rather than employees.
Working as an independent contractor in the care and support economy can be beneficial for workers. They can run an independent business, set their own prices, and exert control over when they work and which work they agree to take on. However, the advent of the gig economy has also highlighted that some workers who are engaged as independent contractors exhibit a lack of bargaining power and autonomy over their own work.
Objective 2.2
Work is organised and jobs are designed in a way that promotes good job quality and worker satisfaction
How will we get there?
The Government has committed to preferencing direct employment in aged care.
The Government has committed to empowering the Fair Work Commission to set minimum standards for workers in ‘employee-like’ forms of work, including the gig economy.
The Priority Workforce Initiatives Action Plan outlines initial steps towards ensuring that workers have good, safe, secure jobs.