The Albanese government says it is addressing a growing crisis in the aged care sector by allowing priority visa processing for foreign workers. 

A memorandum of understanding has been signed with the United Workers Union and private provider Curtin Heritage to deliver 570 staff over the next five years. 

The move is in response to a shortage of low-paid care sector workers, which has left 5 per cent of aged care facilities unable to fulfil the government’s pledge to have a registered nurse on duty in each home 24/7.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says aged care providers that sign agreements with their relevant trade unions will gain access to the new scheme. 

The agreement ensures there will be 200 minutes of care per day for aged care residents by October, in line with the recommendations of the recent royal commission. 

The United Workers Union National Director for Aged Care and State Secretary for Western Australia, Carolyn Smith, said that the new scheme would prevent exploitation of visa workers, adding that it was “no good introducing new workers who face the same workplace issues of low pay and too much work as those currently facing existing workers”.

Curtin Heritage Living Managing Director David Cox has described the new arrangement as a positive step toward addressing the skilled worker shortage and said it would hopefully offer relief to other aged care service providers.

The move follows a review of the immigration system by former public service chief Martin Parkinson. 

In his report, Parkinson recommended creating pathways to bring in low-paid care sector workers, with monitoring in place to prevent exploitation. 

The report also found that Australia lacked an explicit migration policy focusing on lower-paid workers and had a “piecemeal approach that is not meeting our needs or protecting vulnerable migrant workers”.

The government’s response to the Parkinson review will involve an overhaul of the points test used to select permanent skilled migrants and the dumping of requirements for employers to advertise jobs locally before hiring overseas migrants. 

The Productivity Commission has previously called for a visa program for workers in industries like disability and aged care, where labour shortages are affecting the quality of care for vulnerable people.