Aged care providers warn migration cuts could worsen staff shortage

There are concerns proposed cuts to migration could worsen staff shortages in sectors like aged care, which rely on overseas workers.

It comes as Labor, the Coalition and One Nation put forward competing plans to cut net overseas migration over coming years.

Aged care providers and an economic think tank are calling for an essential skills visa to ensure a dedicated pathway for foreign workers needed to fill critical roles.

Aged care providers and an economic think tank are calling for a dedicated essential skills visa to protect critical workforces from proposed cuts to migration, warning overseas workers are central to caring for Australia's aging population.

It comes as Labor, the Coalition and One Nation put forward competing plans to cut net overseas migration over coming years.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor this month unveiled what he described as the "biggest cut to immigration in this country's history" , slashing the temporary visa program intake by about 650,000 over four years through deep cuts to graduate, refugee and bridging visas.

Under a future Coalition government migration would be cut to 100,000 for the first two years before rising again to 160,000. Labor is aiming for 225,000 a year from 2027-28, down from recent levels of around 300,000.

One Nation is pledging three years of net-negative migration, meaning more people would leave than arrive.

The peak body for aged care, Ageing Australia, said 51 per cent of the sector's workforce was born overseas, and demand for staff would keep growing as the population ages.

"We need about 110,000 additional care workers by the end of this decade alone just to keep up with the demand we're currently dealing with and the demand that's coming down the road at us," CEO Tom Symondson said.

At one regional aged care centre in New South Wales central west, more than 80 per cent of its staff were born overseas.

"The majority of our workers are from Nepal — 104 out of 179 staff — so that's quite a high percentage," Service Manager at Uniting Wontama in Orange, Rosie Dunnett, said.

"We also have staff from India, the Philippines … and from a whole range of other countries as well.

Like many workers in aged care, Rose Buen came to Australia from the Philippines on a student visa, to build a better future for her family.