Age Safe is about improving the quality and safety of aged care in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The Age Safe campaign addresses the issues caused by chronic understaffing in aged care facilities, which impacts both care workers and kaumatua/residents.
Care in Crisis - Manaaki i te Raru
Download our report: Care in Crisis Manaaki i te Raru - A call for culturally and clinically safe staffing in Aged Care
Underfunding, chronic understaffing and system-wide failures have left the aged residential care (ARC) sector unable to provide culturally and clinically safe care for kaumātua. The sector is characterised by shortfalls in essential clinical and personal care, neglect and preventable harm to residents resulting from time and budget constraints, and the overall erosion of residents’ dignity and mana. Workers described the toll of working in a broken system where they are set up to fail.
Our vision demands a culturally and clinically safe aged residential care system. Building on the care minutes model from Australia and the case-mix model developed in Aotearoa, we are calling for a care minutes framework that builds a safe staffing system around the needs of residents. This model unites comprehensive assessment of residents’ clinical and hauora needs with the funding and staffing commitments to meet them.
Age Safe - Why it’s important
The aged care sector is facing a crisis of understaffing, leading to task focused care, care rationing, off site telephone nursing in place of nurses on site and on duty causing exhaustion and burn out for workers, and sadly reduced quality care for kaumatua/residents. Age Safe highlights the urgent need for reform to ensure equitable, culturally safe, and high-quality care for all residents. By bringing together caregivers, whānau, and the community, Age Safe is advocating for sufficient government funding and systemic changes that support both workers and those in care.
Age Safe - Our goals
- Mandatory Minimum Staffing Levels: We want mandatory minimum staffing levels that enable workers to provide quality care.
- Funding Accountability: We want aged care to be funded transparently, ensuring that money intended for staffing is passed on to staff.
- Promote Culturally Safe Aged Care: Ensure that kaumātua receive care that respects their cultural values and practices.
- Empower Workers: Provide nurses, caregivers, and kaiawhina with the tools and resources to advocate for safer workplaces and fair pay.
- Mobilise Communities: Engage whānau and communities to support better care standards and pressure the government for funding reforms.
- Build Stakeholder Alliances: Collaborate with key stakeholders such as Grey Power, Age Concern, and Te Ohu to build a unified front for aged care reform.
For NZNO members: Reporting incidents of understaffing in Aged Care
Aged Care workers are encouraged to report instances of understaffing.
Please complete the "Aged Care staffing concerns report" form every time you believe your workplace is understaffed and the safety of patients or workers is at risk.
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