1 AGED CARE REGULATION AT WORK: A CASE STUDY

The aged care sector is growing in economic and social importance as the ageing population puts mounting pressure on Australia’s health system. While there has been an increase in political and academic consideration of the sector, very little of this research has been concerned with industrial relations, beyond labour supply issues. Even less focus has been placed on the effect of regulation on industrial relations within the residential aged care sector. This paper addresses these conceptual and empirical gaps by analysing the forces and pressures which shape employment relations at a regionally significant, community based not-for-profit residential aged care facility. The paper reports on a case study conducted as part of broader doctoral research which uses regulation theory to explore and explain the practical industrial relations issues facing employers and workers in the residential aged care sector. This research is unique in that it considers how various forms of regulation interact with employment relations strategies in an industry which has been understudied. Utilising ‘regulation theory’, the paper argues that a variety of regulatory requirements significantly impact on the experience of daily work performed by carers in a residential aged care facility