4 minute read
CEO’s Column
TRANSFORMATION IN SIGHT
THE FEDERAL BUDGET HAS PROVIDED THE BUILDING BLOCKS, BUT WE ARE ALL PART OF THE SOLUTION
Sean Rooney Chief Executive Officer Leading Age Services Australia
The Federal Government’s Budget commitment of $17.7 billion over four years towards aged care reform has in no small way reflected the campaign by age services provider organisations to keep aged care on the political agenda.
Never more than now has our sector needed such attention after the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, released on 26 February this year, highlighted systemic problems largely caused by the policy failures of successive governments.
What we saw from the Government on 11 May is a Budget response in three parts: a substantial level of funding over the coming years; a detailed government response to nearly all of the Royal Commission’s 148 recommendations; and a five-year plan for reform.
The Budget made significant steps towards addressing three issues of urgent concern for older Australians, aged care workers and service providers. These being, creating 80,000 new home care packages over two years to deal with the waiting list of nearly 100,000 people, some of whom have been waiting for more than 12 months; relief for aged care homes under financial pressure; and workforce support including more care minutes per day and 34,000 funded training places to allow for much-needed workforce development.
The Budget response also adopted the Royal Commission recommendations for a new Aged Care Act, which places the
LASA CEO Sean Rooney has been busy speaking on behalf of aged care providers and older Australians in the media about major changes facing the age services industry.
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individual at the centre of their care, an independent InspectorGeneral, an Aged Care Advisory Council to oversee the system, greater transparency in how funds are spent, an independent pricing authority and a better resourced regulator.
It also marks, in part, the success of the Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) campaign ‘It’s time to care about aged care’, which attracted more than 53,000 signatures on its petition leading up to the Budget announcement, and successfully kept aged care and the Royal Commission final report in the public eye and on the political agenda.
I am proud to say that LASA played a key role in the formation and activities of the AACC, which comprises LASA, Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA), Catholic Health Australia, Baptist Care Australia, Anglicare Australia and UnitingCare Australia.
Implemented effectively, the Budget response provides the building blocks for a transformation of Australia’s aged care system. Among the 148 recommendations in the Royal Commission final report, there were 100 accepted in full by the government and 26 accepted ‘in principle’, with the rest not addressed at all.
Omissions include the crucial question of a sustainable funding model for aged care in the future, a dental health scheme, and government funding for aged care workforce wage rises. These issues will need to be resolved if we are to translate the intent of the Royal Commission into tangible outcomes for older Australians and the people and organisations who care for them.
In the meantime, what does implementation look like? It is not just up to the government, it is also up to us as an industry to inform change, and create a system that is both sustainable and consistent with consumer demand. There is a lot of work ahead of us and some of it will not be easy.
LASA will be working with our Members to make sure these changes happen appropriately, so that we are able to look back with pride on the gains we have made together, as a result of the Royal Commission and government response.
We must not lose sight of the 1.3 million older Australians receiving aged care services, of their need to be afforded choice and be treated with dignity and respect, and the need for reward and recognition of the 360,000 staff who work providing these services.
If executed properly, the response announced by the Government to the Royal Commission’s final report will realise the transformation of the aged care system as envisaged by the Commissioners. ■
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