Government promised reform, record funding – here’s what happened The aged care royal commission provided the government with a plan to reform the sector, writes senior economist Matt Grudnoff. He outlines the ‘progress’.
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he final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was delivered in March 2021. The stories that came out of the royal commission process were horrific and, sadly, unsurprising. It laid bare the terrible emergency that had been ongoing in aged care for decades. It was also an emergency that should never have happened.
problems would require more like $10 billion in extra funding each year. With the release of the May budget, we got the government’s response to the royal commission. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced with much fanfare that it would be putting an additional $17.7 billion into the aged care sector. A closer inspection of the numbers revealed that this would be over five years. That amounts to about $3.5 billion per year. Well short of the minimum $10 billion required.
The royal commission also came with a comprehensive set of recommendations to reform the sector and ensure that it didn’t happen again. It was an opportunity to reset aged care Reform is something and make sure the future was very every politician wants different to the past.
The government was quick to counter the criticism that it wasn’t enough by saying that it had to be fiscally responsible. But what is more fiscally responsible – spending an additional $3.5 billion a year and failing to solve the problem or spending $10 billion a year and actually fixing it?
to have done but none But in politics there are few words that are more overused than of them want to do. ‘reform’. Reform in the political arena reminds me of the old joke that a classic of literature is a book everyone wants The government also claimed that it was providing to have read but no-one wants to read. Reform is record funding for aged care. Whenever you hear a something that every politician wants to have done politician say they are providing record funding for but none of them want to do. something, they’re trying to pull the wool over your With both sides of politics having perfected scare eyes with a meaningless statement. campaigns and enough voters seemingly happy Populations and prices go up each year. This means to buy into them to swing elections, reform has that just to keep up with the current level of care per become a lot harder. Gone are the reforming eras person, every year would need to be year of record of the 1970s and `80s. But failing to reform funding. means things just drift along and, as the royal commission clearly identified, that creates its own Worse, it is possible to have a year of record funding problems. where the quality of care per person is falling. If the funding doesn’t keep up with the growth in The stories from the royal commission did create population and the increase in prices, but is still a powerful groundswell of support for large-scale slightly higher than last year, then it is still a year of reform. And large-scale reform is what the royal record funding. Record funding is a meaningless commission found was needed. To fully implement all the reforms would cost about $20 billion in statement made only by politicians and says nothing extra funding each year. A bare minimum to fix the about the care provided. 8
YourLifeChoices Retirement Affordability Index™ November 2021
