Where the candidates chasing your vote stand on aged care

Many move to the Coffs Coast to retire but life in paradise poses questions for future care. See what your federal election candidates say about aged care.

Some have uncharitably described many of the towns in the local electorate of Cowper as retirement villages by the sea.

There’s an ounce of truth to that label - with many retirees choosing to settle in places like South West Rocks, Nambucca Heads, Sawtell and the northern beaches of Coffs Harbour.

Great fishing, a subtropical climate, golf and bowls facilities, and a bevy of licensed clubs tick the leisure boxes - but the fly in the blue rinse ointment is aged care, and what happens when one has to move into a managed residential home facility.

Of all the issues heading into the May 21 federal election, aged care is front of mind for tens of thousands in Cowper.

In the second instalment of our series on the big picture questions, we’ve asked an expert who works in the aged care field to flush out the candidates chasing your vote.

The first topic in our series was housing - another pinchpoint for the Mid-North Coast.

 Sasha Andrews, chief executive officer, Woolgoolga Aged Care Centre

Sasha Andrews.

Q: What will you do if elected to attract new and experienced staff back into aged care, and how will you fund the providers of aged care services to actually deliver high quality care to pay their staff a decent wage?

Keith McMullen, Labor

Keith McMullen: “If we want higher standards of care – we need to support higher wages for our carers.”

Thanks for the chance to speak about aged care. As you know it’s an important area of concern for Labor. We have five key policy points:

Registered nurses on site 24/7. Under a Labor Government, every aged care facility will be required to have a registered, qualified nurse on site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This will save thousands of stressful, expensive and ultimately unnecessary trips to hospital emergency departments, for issues a nurse could solve on the spot.

More carers with more time to care. Labor will raise the standard of aged care across the board – by ensuring there are more carers, and will mandate that every Australian living in aged care receives an average of 215 minutes of care per day, as recommended by the Royal Commission.

A pay rise for aged care workers. Labor will back a real pay rise for aged care workers. Labor will support workers’ calls for better pay at the Fair Work Commission. And a Labor Government will fund the outcome of this case. Because if we want higher standards of care – we need to support higher wages for our carers.

Better food for residents. A Labor Government will work with the sector to develop and implement mandatory nutrition standards for aged care homes to ensure every resident gets good food.

Dollars going to care. Labor will make residential care providers report – in public and in detail – what they are spending money on. And we will give the Aged Care Safety Commissioner new powers to ensure there is accountability and integrity.

Pat Conaghan, The Nationals

Pat Conaghan: “The Nationals in government are providing $7.5 billion so that senior Australians can remain independent and in control, living at home and connected to their community.”

The Federal Coalition Government continues a further record investment in aged care to help the nearly 40,000 senior Australians living in Cowper.

This year’s Budget will deliver more home care places, more funding for aged care centres and increases in the amount of time that nurses and carers spend with residents.

The Nationals have adopted reforms that show how we will deliver services within a five-year period, across five key pillars.

These reforms put senior Australians and their individual needs front and centre, partnering with the aged care sector and workforce.

The Nationals in government are providing $7.5 billion so that senior Australians can remain independent and in control, living at home and connected to their community. We understand that this is the preferred option for many older Australians and have made changes to facilitate this.

Additionally, the Nationals will invest $3.9 billion over the next four years to increase front line care to improve residential aged care services and sustainability.

The Nationals will invest $231.9 million to reform activities that will strengthen the aged care quality and safety commission to further protect senior Australians.

We are committed to growing the home care workforce by 18,000 new personal care workers. $135.6 million will provide additional financial support and incentives for registered nurses.

Plus, we will invest $30.1 million to support aged care providers to improve their governance and meet stronger legislative obligations.

Separately, $14.8 million will be directed to key aged care groups advocating for senior Australians. This funding will be provided over three years.

There is always more to be done, and the Nationals remain committed to investing and reforming to meet the needs of our senior citizens in aged care.

Caz Heise, independent

Caz Heise: “Nurses and other qualified aged care staff need to be paid the same as their counterparts in hospitals.”

Great staff who are skilled, engaged and compassionate are the key to providing excellent aged care.

Nurses and other qualified aged care staff need to be paid the same as their counterparts in hospitals.

They deserve to feel respected, have permanency in their positions and work within better staffing ratios so they have the time to do all that is needed to provide excellent aged care.

Given the nature of their work, they need access to additional grief counselling and support as needed.

So they can feel pride in their workplace we need more rigour around how money allocated to aged care is spent on improving facilities, recreational activities and meals.

More rigour around how government funding is spent will also go a long way to paying for additional staff and higher wages. We must put mechanisms in place, and apply them, to ensure meeting the needs of everyday elderly people is more important than excessive corporate profits.

Improving the rate and calibre of home-based aged care services will also free up more government money for institutionalised aged care. Currently only 30 per cent of elderly people receive home care. We need to at least double that figure and speed up the approval process.

Ultimately the provision of funding to ensure dignity in aged care comes down to government choices.

By cracking down on government waste, improving the efficiency of infrastructure delivery, reducing subsidies to fossil fuel companies and properly taxing multinationals, we would have more than enough money to provide an excellent standard of aged care.

Simon Chaseling, Liberal Democratic Party

Simon Chaseling: “A nation can be judged by the way it treats its elderly and most vulnerable - we can do much better.”

I know a number of aged care workers locally and they are without exception dedicated, hard working and caring people.

I have been disturbed for many years by the low wages and poor treatment of staff in this critical sector, and by the constant understaffing.

A nation can be judged by the way it treats its elderly and most vulnerable - we can do much better.

I would advocate for better funding for aged care and higher wages for aged care workers.

The Liberal Democratic Party are strong advocates for financial responsibility, reduced bureaucracy, and balanced spending, but aged care is an industry that should be of high importance to any government of a decent society. The sector simply needs better support.

The recent pandemic has shown many flaws in our government’s management of aged care, we oscillated between poorly funded protection of the elderly, and extremely oppressive and heavy handed regulation that caused tremendous grief to both aged care workers and their patients.

I know dedicated staff who have walked away or been fired for wishing to exercise personal informed consent, which is the most basic of Australian civil rights and should always be highly respected, while frustrated that the government held no apparent knowledge of the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of the policies they were forcing.

We need to provide the resources to equip better care and management of aged care, while retaining the basic principles of medical ethics and the constitutional prohibition of ‘civil conscription’, or in other words the prohibition of politicians to force medical procedures on citizens or doctors.

Aged care workers cannot have their rights stripped from them by overzealous politicians, and the elderly cannot be forced to die alone without the comfort of their family at their side.

There are strategies to balance world class, compassionate care with the respecting of workers’ rights, but doctors and healthcare professionals, not politicians and bureaucrats, are the most qualified to work out the best strategies to do this, and should be well equipped by government to do so.

We have an ageing population and need to attract vibrant, experienced and enthusiastic staff to the sector.

Aged care is a challenging occupation and must be well staffed by satisfied workers if our elderly are to receive the care they deserve.

Tim Nott, Greens

Tim Nott: “My partner works in aged care and her pay is very low considering her skills. This poor payment structure has been ongoing since before Covid.”

My personal opinion is that our country should be rated on how we look after the vulnerable, not how rich the wealthy are.

The aged care system continues to have allegations of abuse which demonstrates the lessons of previous dangerous behaviour has not been dealt with. This is unacceptable.

The poor management of the aged care sector during Covid was shameful. The lack of preparation led to vulnerable people left alone and without the support they needed.

Locking people up should be a last resort after all other measures have been exhausted.

Basic health measures of CO2 monitors and supply of testing kits should have been given the support needed.

Now the government has further demonstrated its contempt for the elderly by pretending the pandemic has ended when 17 people died yesterday from Covid in NSW alone, mainly the elderly.

There have been over 4500 deaths up to April 22 this year. The government priorities are wrong.

The incumbents spend more time hiding their own actions from the public than they do helpng our elders.

I would like to ensure governance is for all people, whatever their stage of life, prioritising health and welfare outcomes for the elderly.

My partner works in aged care and her pay is very low considering her skills. This poor payment structure has been ongoing since before Covid, leading to poor management outcomes from privatising this industry.

The Greens put health and community before profits. I support a well funded aged care service. I would put forward that I support implimenting the recomendations from the royal commission into aged care.

* The other two candidates for Cowper were invited to participate.