But aged care operators have welcomed the renewed focus and there's now a race to fill staff shortfalls.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese on Thursday delivered his final budget reply before the May poll, with a $2.5 billion package to fix the aged care crisis the centrepiece.

But the federal government is demanding details on the plan, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison warning "a speech doesn't solve the problem", urging Australians not to "change course".

Aged care operators have broadly welcomed the package, although Labor will have just over a year to fix a worker shortfall to fulfil a key pledge - making at least one registered nurse available in every aged care home each hour.

Labor aged care spokeswoman Clare O'Neil accepted worker shortages needed to be resolved by the 2023-24 fiscal year.

"Basically, if Labor is elected in May we will have just over a year to find the additional nurses that we will need for this commitment," she said on Friday.

The chief executive officer of the NSW and ACT branch of Southern Cross Care, Helen Emmerson, said rural and remote regions were particularly desperate, but were being ignored by both parties.

"We can't find them even in some of our Sydney metro sites. I don't know how they think we're going to be able to find them in a year's time," she told The Canberra Times.

"[It] is a really huge omission and one that is really disappointing, because it doesn't just happen in metro areas."

The standout for the chief executive officer of Warrigal Care and director of Aged and Community Services Australia Association Mark Sewell was Labor's promise to back a wage case for aged care workers.

"The staff are paid so much lower than their equivalent staff in the health system. That needs to be addressed," he said.

"And it looks like it will be over time by the government, but it looks like it might more quickly be addressed if the opposition becomes government."

Spruiking the package on Friday, Mr Albanese said he had sat down with hundreds of workers from the sector during his time as leader. He said the plan drew on that experience to target "what aged care residents really need".

"This government had nothing to say about aged care in a budget after a royal commission was handed down. It's not good enough. Australia deserves better," he said.

Labor's plan included pledges to develop minimum nutrition standards in aged care homes, and compel aged care providers to report their expenditure publicly.

Mr Albanese also pledged to push for a wage rise at the Fair Work Commission, set to consider a 25 per cent increase in July. Mr Morrison on Friday dismissed the policy as writing "somebody a letter".

"That doesn't change anything; the Fair Work Commission will make the decision," he said.

Mr Morrison - who accepts the sector is in crisis - insisted "we're trying to achieve the same things", but demanded details from Labor on how it would pay for the scheme.

He claimed the government's response, which he said totalled $over $19 billion, was working and urged Australians not to "change course" in May.

"A speech doesn't solve the problem in aged care, and if he thinks what he's talking about [will] only cost $2 billion, that only underscores that he really doesn't understand," he said.

Mr Morrison described wage increases and boosting the number of nurses as "aspirationally good things", but warned "you've got to know how to do them".

He repeated his claim that Mr Albanese would not understand the "complexity and the detail of government" because he has not handed down a budget as treasurer or prime minister.

"If you don't know what you're doing, you only make the situation worse, maybe seeking to try and make the situation better," he said.

Aged care services minister Richard Colbeck has consistently denied the sector was in "crisis".