Aged care policy go-slow leaving older Australians stranded without care
A report into the future of aged care has now been in government hands for six months without a formal response, leaving the sector uncertain about how to plan for the needs of older Australians.
More older Australians are being denied access to a nursing home bed or in-home care support each day the Albanese government fails to implement its own aged-care taskforce’s recommendations, aged-care advocates warn.
Six months after the taskforce chaired by Aged Care Minister Anika Wells handed its findings to the government, there is still no formal response, leaving the sector uncertain about new investments in care facilities and services, they say.
The failure to implement its key recommendation, for older Australians with the means to do so to pay more for the accommodation and non-direct care components of their aged care such as food, cleaning and gardening, is stopping money flowing into new beds and homecare packages.
And aged-care operators have no clarity when making longer-term infrastructure and workforce investments, advocates say.
Chris Baynes, chief executive of aged-care specialist DCM group, said the sector was already in crisis, with shortages in both nursing homes and homecare packages and no sign of urgency from the government.
“At Broken Hill Hospital today, there are 20 patients who should be in aged care but no beds are available,” Mr Baynes said. “Within 12 months if you want a local bed for mum, good luck.”
Homecare is just as fraught, he said. “We are back to the homecare days where 16,000 people died in one year waiting for their package.
“Imagine sitting at home, frail and alone, waiting.”
An analysis of the taskforce reforms by aged-care accounting specialists StewartBrown calculated the co-contributions flowing into the sector if the reform was delivered would total about $3.26bn a year.
“This equates to $8.9m a day not flowing into aged care, $6.3m for residential care and $2.6m for homecare,” Mr Baynes said.
“Each day the recommendations are delayed means 13 new beds ($6.3m at $500,000 a bed) and 90 homecare packages ($2.6m at $29,000 per average package) are not being created.”
Aged-care provider Whiddon chief executive Chris Mamarelis said infrastructure and workforce investment decisions required long-term planning, which was almost impossible given the policy uncertainty.
“The taskforce recommendations provided certainty but they’re on hold and this leaves us in limbo,” Mr Mamarelis said.
“Remember, this taskforce was chaired and endorsed by the commonwealth.”
Mr Mamarelis said the lack of progress, combined with the delay in the final Fair Work Commission decision on aged-care wages for thousands of workers, was a “double whammy for the sector”.
“It sends a terrible message to older Australians and their families, nursing home residents and employees about where aged care sits as a policy priority.”
Aged care is one of the federal government’s biggest spending measures, and with the ageing population is expected to quickly grow. The budget puts aged-care spending at $36bn this financial year, rising to $42bn in 2026-27 but the number of homecare packages offered by government falls well short of demand.
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