Support Worker Burnout in Australian Aged Care: Why Sick Calls Are Rising?

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In Australia’s aged care homes, support workers play a vital role in caring for elderly residents. They assist with showering, feeding, dressing, cleaning and tasks like toileting — one of the hardest parts of the job. Yet behind this essential work, many are struggling with a serious problem: burnout. This often leads to mental health issues that they find difficult to express.

Burnout is not simply being tired after a long day of work. It is a deeper state of emotional exhaustion, detachment, and feeling as your efforts do not make a difference. It grows within you from ongoing stress, an unhealthy workplace culture, poor work ethics, personal biases, discrimination, feelings of isolation, lack of teamwork and support, challenging work environments, and short-staffing.

Many take this work not out of passion, but because they feel they have no better option. Some stay because of the pay, others to gain experience, and a few accept it as long-term work option without wanting to study further for a career change. But the reality is, most will leave as soon as a better opportunity comes along. After all, very few people choose this role by preference. Even when workers seem to be “managing,” the pressure often turns into burnout and that burnout doesn’t just impact them, it spreads to those around them. Then what happens is that the workers book in for shifts, but call in sick at the last minute.

A key reason staff stop wanting to work in certain environments is that they feel disorganised and unsupported. With heavy workloads, limited resources, and poor leadership, workers are constantly rushing, lack clear routines, and receive little teamwork or support. Over time, the stress builds up, and many begin calling in sick or avoiding certain shifts — especially the morning shifts — because it all feels overwhelming.

From my own experience, I wanted to observe closely how burnout develops not just in myself, but in colleagues around me. Many new or casual staff pick up shifts to make ends meet, but instead of feeling supported, they often encounter lack of directiion, unclear instructions, abrupt communication, and very little team support. For example, a regular care worker may issue orders without explaining routines, leaving new staff to rush through tasks alone. Leaders, such as enrolled or registered nurses, sometimes delegate responsibilities but fail to create a supportive environment. This lack of guidance and encouragement can make shifts feel isolating, particularly when someone is unfamiliar with the residents.

Another observation is the lack of structured support. Aged care staff frequently face emotionally difficult situations, such as resident’s challenging behaviours. Without clinical supervision or time to debrief, stress accumulates. No experinced collegue to talk to. this can happen to new staff, feeling alone, then regular staff put undue pressure and leaving them to perform work alone during the shift.

Isolation is also a major factor: in some workplaces, staff form tight groups based on shared background or nationality, which can unintentionally or intentionally leave others out, promoting discriminatory practices. This cliquey atmosphere discourages open communication, and can even lead to incivility or subtle bullying, further reducing trust among staff.

Leadership plays a crucial role.When workers are just handed orders without recognition or guidance, they lose motivation and stop learning. Research shows that when supervisors don’t give enough support, employees quickly feel drained, frustrated, and cynical. Many end up saying “yes” to extra work — even when they’re already overwhelmed — because they’re afraid of conflict or criticism. I have my own experience with this, too. But this cycle only speeds up burnout, and before long, it leads to people taking more sick days or leaving altogether.

A 2024 study highlights this issue:

“Burnout hits hard in Australian aged care, with “30–50%” of workers affected due to “excessive workloads” and “lack of managerial support” (Damarell, 2024). Poor leadership — supervisors giving orders without guidance — drains morale, pushing workers to overcommit and feel emotionally exhausted. This leads to “increased staff turnover and absenteeism,” with many calling in sick to cope (Damarell, 2024)”

A 2022 study highlights this issue:

“This study examined the extent to which co-worker and supervisor support, self-confidence and adaptive coping skills predicted burnout among residential aged care staff, after controlling for staff demographics, organisational climate and work patterns. One hundred and thirty three residential aged care staff across Australia were surveyed using online questionnaires measuring levels of co-worker and supervisor support, self- confidence, adaptive coping skills and burnout.” Low levels of supervisor support significantly predicted emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (cynicism) among aged care workers, even after controlling for demographics, organizational climate, and work patterns” (Gao et al., 2022). Workers shared feeling “emotionally drained from my work” when supervisors didn’t offer clear guidance or acknowledgment, and some even felt detached, saying, “I don’t really care what happens to some recipients.”

“It gets worse — workers often feel pressured to say “yes” to extra tasks, even when they’re swamped, for fear of conflict. The study confirms this: “Low supervisor support correlated with workers taking on more than they could handle, contributing to emotional strain and burnout” (Gao et al., 2022). The result? “Burnout, driven by poor supervisor support, was linked to increased absenteeism and low job satisfaction,” with exhausted workers more likely to call in sick (Gao et al., 2022)”.

To truly create change, aged care facilities need leaders who listen, strong support systems, and a culture where every voice matters. When staff feel safe to share their experiences, learn from each other, and work together as a team, the whole environment shifts. If we don’t address these challenges, stress and burnout will keep driving people away. But if we shine a light on what’s really happening not as a complaint, but as an opportunity to learn then we can build workplaces where staff feel valued, supported, and proud of the care they provide, while keeping both carers and residents safe emotionally and physically.

Reference: Damarell, R. (2024, September 24). Research notes: Palliative care. Flinders University Blogs.

Gao, F., Newcombe, P., Tilse, C., Wilson, J., & Tuckett, A. (2022). Exploring the relationship between co-worker and supervisor support, self-confidence, coping skills and burnout in residential aged care staff. BMC Nursing, 21(1), 135