The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA/ANMF NSW) has filed an application in the Federal Court of Australia against for-profit aged care provider, Opal Healthcare, for breaching a state-based enterprise agreement over failure to meet care minute targets and misreported care minutes.
The NSWNMA first notified a dispute with Opal in early 2025, before referring it to the Fair Work Commission in June last year, after aged care members uncovered non-direct care duties were being misreported to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing as direct care.
Care minutes are the amount of direct care that older people living in residential care receive from a registered nurse (RN), enrolled nurse (EN), personal care worker (PCW) or assistant in nursing (AIN). The care minutes requirement is based on a sector-wide average of 215 minutes of care per resident per day, including 44 minutes of direct RN care.
Despite an updated ‘Care Minutes Responsibility Guide’ being released by the department, which clarified that tasks such as kitchen, laundry and lifestyle duties must not be counted as direct care, the NSWNMA believes Opal has done little to rectify the issue, which impacts staffing and the levels of care being afforded to residents.
Over the past 14 months, the NSWNMA held multiple conferences in the Fair Work Commission in relation to misreporting concerns in Opal-run residential aged care facilities across the state.
NSWNMA members reported that Assistants in Nursing and carers were regularly required to perform non-care duties including washing dishes, folding laundry, and leading group activities which were subsequently logged as direct nursing care minutes.
Understaffing is one of the biggest issues in the health sector and the implementation and enforcement of direct care minutes is key to improving staffing in aged care.
During the dispute, Opal adjusted and resubmitted its care minute data to exclude previously counted non-direct care duties. The department data now shows that more than 50 of Opal’s aged care facilities have failed to meet care minute requirements, resulting in poor staffing star ratings for Opal facilities, with over 95% of facilities being rated either 1 star rating (significant improvement needed) or 2 star rating (improvement needed).
The NSWNMA filed its application in the Federal Court of Australia on 26 August seeking civil penalties for serious breaches of clause 58 of Opal Healthcare (NSW) Enterprise Agreement 2023.
The NSWNMA is calling for full transparency in care minute reporting across all Opal facilities and an immediate end to the misclassification of non-care duties.
