A disability support provider has posted an ad for an in-home carer requesting that “no dark-skinned applicants” need apply.
The ad seeks a “mature” carer in the disability sector for a client with autism, and requests that “no dark-skinned (Indian or African) applicants apply for this role”.
The blatantly racist request was the wish of the client, the ad noted.
Barbara Ould, the CEO of Absolute Care and Health, which placed the ad, said she “unreservedly apologises” for the offensive ad, which she agreed was “discriminatory and offensive”.
“We absolutely agree that the job advertisement was completely unacceptable,” she said in a statement issued to HelloCare.
“We are so very deeply sorry for the offence and distress that our error has caused,” she noted.
“In no way does it reflect our core values as an organisation or any of us as individuals, or our unwavering commitment to equal opportunity within our company and our community,” Ms Ould observed.
Ms Ould said Absolute Care and Health had been contacted by many people in relation to the ad, and had issued an apology on its website.
The company “apologised personally to those who had viewed the advert and those who contacted us with their concerns”, and the organisation had also apologised to its staff, she said.
As soon as the ad was discovered, it was quickly removed from indeed.com, the website where it was posted.
The ad was published as a result of an “extreme failure” in their usual recruitment processes, and was the result of “human error”, Ms Ould said.
The company will be conducting a thorough investigation of what occurred.
Many people contacted Absolute Care and Health to express their outrage.
“We have read and we acknowledge every one of the responses we have received,” Ms Ould said.
She said she was “grateful” that so many had spoken out in opposition to the racist comments.
“While we cannot undo the distress we have caused to so many, we certainly wish to be an active contributor to a healthier, happier and inclusive future where racism, ageism, ableism, discrimination and vilification have no place.”
Ms Ould said that Absolute Care and Health’s multicultural team is one of the organisation’s strongest attributes.
“The diversity of our employees has been a significant strength of our organisation since it was founded and we’re proud to work with a team made up of so many different cultures and backgrounds who deliver exceptional non-judgemental and heartfelt care to our clients,” Ms Ould said.
The #BlackLivesMatter movement has put the way we treat different races under the spotlight like never before.
Even those who may have not considered themselves racist are acknowledging they must learn more about the insidious constructs in our society that alienate and disenfranchise black people.
Occasionally, older people might express racist thoughts and opinions, and it’s not unheard of that they will request a carer of a particular race. The resident might have fought in a war against people of another race, and those animosities might linger. For others, the resident might be expressing the social norms of a different era.
What can carers do in these situations?
If an aged care resident expresses a desire for a carer of a particular race, it’s important to listen carefully, acknowledge that you understand what they are saying, and reassure them that any carer recruited to care for them will be the right person for the job.
It is never acceptable to recruit carers based on race. Instead, look at the person’s overall demeanor, consider how they will get on with the resident, how empathetic are they likely to be to the resident’s needs, how well qualified are they, how well past employees speak of them, and what is their past experience.
We have heard of situations in aged care where a resident may have expressed a racist view, but when they have the lived experience of a person of a certain race caring for them, they focus on the support they are grateful to be receiving. They forget about race – much to the delight of all involved.
This will change in time. Although, older people should be respected enough to be given the option of who they want to be cared by. Some don’t like males looking after their personal hygiene and some prefer female only carers. Don’t you agree that we live in a world with many choices to suit our wants and needs? Why is this any different. I don’t feel discriminated against when told a male resident prefers an Indian to look after him. And most residents are absolutely fine with people of other cultures looking after them. Australians are not the monsters some people try to make them out to be. It just becomes another issue with the new wave Populous Movement happening in Western cultures of late. Yes it happens sometimes when some elderly don’t want anyone other than their own ethnicity looking after them. Surely anyone can understand that? Let us not get too distracted by a few old dears. This is a big world but getting smaller all the time. Are we ready for it?
Yes it was wrong, but now that the core standard is “resident choice” how do we manage residents who say “get that black b**ch out of my room” & refuse to be attended to by a dark skinned nurse? We are basically not allowed to tell them that their attitude is racist & offensive because it is their right to be as racist & offensive as they like & they know it.
About 30% of my staff are from a non-Caucasian heritage as we are located quite close to a university, so we have a lot of Bachelor of Nursing students working here on student visas & it is not unusual for one of these sweet, caring young women to be called names based on their skin colour by a resident. Some of these residents have dementia, but some are just not nice people & if you say something to them they will come back with “it’s my right”.
Managers are caught between a rock & a hard place & as long as these standards keep giving residents the right to act as horribly as they like we will remain stuck.
Racism is alive and well in healthcare. You only have to see who is in charge in certain hospitals to see that power in clearly divided along racial and usually gender lines. Older wealthy entitled patients routinely ask me “Where are you from ?” and usually look slightly irritated and perplexed when I tell them that I was born in Caulfield.
Let me set you straight on who is racist. I work for an aged care facility that virtually only hires foureigners. I believe you should take a good look around and see that white Australians are often overlooked for employment in the aged care industry. The staff are usually in high positions and have friends and family working there. There is often alot of bias in the industry as well. I think foureigners have alot to be thankful for. I have also noticed over the years that most foureign workers are more racist than the so-called privialiged white folk some of you refer to. Alot of foureign students do not come from poverty. Alot come from wealthy families. Older wealthy “entitled” Australians are entitled to have the choice of whoever they want to care for their needs. These are the people who have contributed to the beautiful democratic society you and the rest of us should be grateful for. Don’t take it for granted. And remove the chip off of your shoulder. It only weighs you and others down!
I find this article disturbing. I vigorously defend the clients right to express his/her wish not to be cared for by a person with dark skin. It is not racist to express your desires when care of a personal nature is involved. It is a statement of fact and should be seen as such. There are religious and nationality specific carers available via many Providers – some of whom deal only with clients of the same religion or nationality. I applaud these services for providing a unique and valuable service to their clients and I do not call them racist because of this. It is time to get over this ‘racist’ rubbish when it has to do with personal preference. It is time to acknowledge our differences and to celebrate both our commonality and our uniqueness. We are not the same and nothing will change that. It would be great if everyone who complained about the Ad actually ‘saw’ the person who made the request as stating his/her preference for a Carer and not denigrating him/her for having the courage to state what their needs or preferences are.
Thank you for this article. There is no acceptable reason for racism so I am going to hopefully write in such a way that people do not perceive my words as racism.
My husband is in a nursing home with an advanced neurodegenerative disease…Huntington’s.
Before the condition emerged hubby struggled understanding people’s accents when we travelled. He marvelled at me understanding so I assumed that I had more experience listening to different [usually slurred] speech due to medical conditions. I rarely have issues understanding people’s accents.
However at the nursing home there are quite a few carers who started life overseas. Some have really thick accents and it is challenging to understand them.
One person is from Yorkshire near the Scottish border and their brogue accent is a struggle for me and hubby can’t understand him at all. Several other carers are from Middle East [India/Nepal] and they also have strong accents and speak rapidly. Some staff from middle East speak slowly and make an effort to help residents understand as does the Yorkshire person.
I can understand them but with difficulty so someone with cognitive disease may well struggle.
When I raised this with one carer I received feedback later from another that speaking about inability to understand someone’s accent was seen as racist.
Surely the most important consideration is carers being able to communicate in a manner that their client’resident/patient can understand.
Bering a retired nurse I was frustrated by the racist comment when my husband’s care is being compromised as a result of inability to understand the carer.
What do others think about my comment? Is it racists to say a person with cognitive impairment has difficulty understanding a strong accent? Is it racist to ask for rostering to embrace at least one person who speaks clear, easily understood Australian?
This is a big problem in the aged care sector, unfortunately there are a number of employees whose English is inadequate and elderly residents find this very frustrating, there needs to be better training at this level, residents are within their rights to request staff that they feel comfortable, safe, secure and can communicate with, if this is because of religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds or some inbuilt fear it should be supported not labeled racist,some dementia residents are very fearful of certain ethnic backgrounds I work in the aged care sector as a carer and see this a lot, there is no room for racism but let’s use common sense and uphold our elders right to choose who will in the end be doing very personal care for them, they are the ones paying a th the end of the day.
while i think it is sad that this was done, there are still many prejudice people and unfortunately this seems to be more prevalent in older folks needing assistance. So perhaps the request was made to spare feeling and issues with verbal outbursts. Some folks that need care givers need to be given a bit of grace as they can not always hid what is in their heads, they are not always civil, or kind.
Perhaps instead of an outcry there should be a way to address these sort of concerns, be it gender, race, nationality, hair color, age to find ways to accomodate the needs of the senior/person while protecting those providing care
Might be easier for all if more white Europeans were brought out on visas for nursing by the sound of things. What ever happened to a stiff upper lip or grow bigger shoulders and stop whinging. Get on with it! Nobody forced you to choose Australia as your new home. Nursing is hard enough especially in aged care where not only the elderly have had to adapt to a change in cultures but the few white staff working in the health sector particularly in aged care, have had to adapt to these changes as well. It is not one sided. The bottom line is to get on with it, stop whining and accept that we are all adapting albeit slowly sometimes. We are all in this together.