Aged-care July 1 deadline worries advocates

There is growing concern that the Albanese government will miss its July 1 deadline for the passage of a new aged care act, with seniors groups worried about what it means for older Australians.

Older Australians are concerned about the progress toward a new aged care act to enshrine their right to quality care. Picture: istock

Advocates for older Australians are increasingly concerned the Albanese government is set to miss one of its key commitments: to have a new aged-care act up and running by July 1.

And the draft bill currently out for comment falls short on a range of key matters such as ­ensuring nursing home residents have an absolute right to visitors at all times, they say.

With time running out for the legislative process to run its course to meet the government’s July 1 deadline, a coalition of 12 advocate groups including Council on the Ageing, Older Persons Advocacy Network and National Seniors are calling for the draft exposure bill to quickly address a range of problems and then be introduced into parliament in March. This would enable a three-month review by parliament, they say.

“It has been five years since the aged-care royal commission began and three years since it ­delivered its landmark report recommending the creation of a new rights- based aged care act,” the coalition’s issues paper responding to the draft bill says.

“Older people shouldn’t have to wait any longer for their rights to be respected in aged care. Any delay to the creation of a rights-based aged care system is unacceptable.

“Delaying the implementation of the Act beyond 1 July 2024 would put this commitment at risk given an Australian federal election can be called any time from August 2024.”

The first of the royal commission’s 148 recommendations handed down in March 2021 was the implementation of a new aged-care act by no later than July 1, 2023, ensuring older people had a right to safe, high-quality care.

The Albanese government has addressed 69 of the recommendations so far. The reform road map on the Department of Health and Aged Care website notes the passage of a new rights-based aged-care act is scheduled for July.

Older Persons Advocacy Network chief executive Craig Gear said the introduction of the act was critical to delivering a more streamlined assessment and entry process in aged care, a huge issue for the growing cohort of older Australians needing support.

OPAN's CEO Craig Gear.

“Older people are telling us they want their rights and they want them now. They can’t wait any longer,” Mr Gear said.

The coalition, which also ­includes Dementia Australia, Carers Australia and the RSL, is calling for several key changes to the draft bill, noting stakeholders had been given only a short period for consultation and had only been provided with an incomplete version of the proposed bill.

“(It) does not include information on fees and charges, place allocation, critical powers, review of decisions, some parts of banning orders and use of computer programs to make decisions,” the issues paper says.

COTA Australia chief executive Pat Sparrow said the proposed act was a considerable improvement on existing aged care legislation and the government had been consulting older Australians and their carers, but further change was needed.

Patricia Sparrow, chief executive of COTA Australia.

One was to ensure aged-care residents have an absolute right to visitors at all times, she said.

The coalition’s issues paper says the language in the bill provided for “safe” visitation, which it says may not sufficiently “balance the psychosocial, physical, and emotional wellbeing needs of older people against actions to prevent infection”.

Ms Sparrow also said the rights conferred in any new legal framework should be “enforceable under the new act itself and not reliable on some other mechanism”.

The paper proposes that aged-care providers are charged with a “positive duty” to deliver rights-based care, rather than any enforcement having to rely on complaints from care recipients.