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An aged care provider has taken a step towards overcoming an industry-wide worker shortage with a new agreement that will give it priority access to migrant workers.
Curtin Heritage Living in Perth on Monday became the first aged care provider in Australia to sign a memorandum of understanding with the federal government and unions to secure priority visa processing for skilled staff.
Migrant workers included in the scheme will in turn receive a fast-tracked, two-year pathway to permanent residency.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells says the agreement will streamline the employment and visa process for overseas workers.
"Older people in Australia need a skilled, diverse and valued workforce so they can receive safe, high-quality, care," she said.
New legislation requires aged care facilities to provide around-the-clock nursing from July 1, in line with the findings of a royal commission into the sector.
There has been concern not all aged care providers would be able to meet the target, especially in regional areas with staff shortages.
The new agreement is part of a broader $36 billion spend by the federal government to help the sector meet the new requirements, including $11.3b to fund a 15 per cent pay rise for workers.
Curtin Heritage Living managing director David Cox says the agreement is a win for the business, its workforce and the entire industry.
"This agreement is a positive step toward addressing a critical shortage of skilled workers and will hopefully offer some relief to other aged care service providers," he said.
The agreement with the United Workers Union will cover 570 workers across five years.
The union's national director of aged care, Carolyn Smith, called the measure an important step towards addressing the workforce issues in the sector and is hopeful the scheme will prevent visa workers being exploited with low pay and too much work.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the agreement was possible because of the government's commitment to slash a visa backlog of one million applications.
In November, Mr Giles said the backlog had been reduced by 25 per cent over the previous few months.
