Most Australian aged care managers reported an increased workload and stress in a recent survey, as industry experts warned immediate action is needed to stop staff walking away.

A survey of more than 250 residential aged care providers by risk and compliance advisors CompliSpace found 78 per cent of managers felt under more stress and 92 percent were doing more paperwork since the introduction of the Aged Care Quality Standards.

CompliSpace chief executive officer David Griffiths said the sector was under “intense scrutiny” with the Royal Commission into aged care, 20 reviews over the last 20 years and the immediate issue of COVID-19.

“The lack of adequate numbers of aged care staff is a major risk to an industry that impacts hundreds of thousands of Australians,” he told Inside Ageing.

“To continue to provide service to an ageing population we need a sustainable approach to workforce management.Staff retention is a serious issue in aged care.”

He said while the eight new Aged Care Quality Standards from July last year were necessary, their implementation was having unintended consequences on staff.

Four out of five respondents to the survey had to change their policies and procedures due to COVID-19, particularly around staff training.

Almost three out of every five centres revised their systems and processes for collecting and reporting data.

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