the Aged Care Today magazine featured articles

Aged Care Employee Day (ACED) on 7 August – hosted by the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) – gives aged care employers and the wider community an opportunity to say ‘thanks for caring’.

Now in its sixth year, ACED celebrates the more than 370,000 aged and community care staff who provide support to over 1.5 million older and ageing Australians.

Considered the unsung heroes of our community, aged care workers devote their careers to improving the health and wellbeing of our elders – our mums, dads, grandparents and great grandparents.

Australians are well known for our nomadic lifestyles – we move between cities, states and sometimes countries – taking us away from our elders geographically, and with the cost of living, staying home to care for a parent is no longer viable for many of us who live locally.

As a community, we’re fortunate to have aged care workers – the health professionals, allied health professionals, wellbeing staff and personal carers – step into the gap when we can’t.

Whether they are helping older people maintain their independence at home, caring for the frail or cognitively impaired in residential care, or supporting a dynamic retirement village atmosphere, staff play a vital role.

Let’s not forget the service staff – the back office team, cleaners, chefs, cooks, maintenance workers and gardeners – without whom aged care sites wouldn’t be able to operate.

For providers, a great team isn’t just about the essential ingredient of quality care, but it’s about how that reflects on the business and impacts its reputation, viability and longevity.

While bricks and mortar have an important role to play, one of the most attractive things about an aged care offering, is the way staff make clients feel.

Some providers mark ACED by giving staff cards or gifts, some organise lunch or morning tea, while others use the occasion as an opportunity to recognise excellence in their team.

Whatever you do as a provider on 7 August, remember ACED is all about them – your team that works around the clock in many instances, to support the dignity of older people.

For ACCPA, it’s another opportunity to highlight the valuable and important role of the aged care sector in Australia – and why appropriate investment in the industry is vital.

We’ll be ramping up our promotion of good news stories and our team will be lining up media opportunities with providers that are going above and beyond, in relation to the work they are doing.

We’ll also be sharing your stories on our social media channels across Facebook, LinkedIn and X.

Please let ACCPA know if there’s something newsworthy you’d like us to help you share, by emailing .

ACED will also be the day when we announce the recipients of the prestigious ACCPA Excellence Awards 2024.

We look forward to celebrating the achievements of individuals, teams and organisations, and acknowledging their efforts to improve the lives of older Australians – thanks for caring!