By David Crowe
Australians could be asked to pay more for aged care under a federal move to consider taxpayer levies and consumer contributions to lift quality in a system already costing more than $30 billion a year.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said a new taskforce set up on Wednesday should consider a levy and other funding proposals when it begins work within weeks on reforms to be set out in a new Aged Care Act next year.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells says people are willing to contribute to the cost of high quality aged care.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The minister promised older Australians the outcome would deliver “better care and better clarity” by simplifying a system that is confusing people with what she called “Byzantine” rules for residential aged care as well as in-home services.
But she sent a strong signal the government would expect more contributions from Australians in return for an improvement in the quality of care.
“You have to say that if we’re not prepared to accept that cinder-block, linoleum-floor, four-bed room anymore, then we need to work out how we’re going to pay for it,” she told the National Press Club.
“Plenty of people have said: ‘I am prepared to pay for an innovative, excellent model of care – I just can’t find it’.”
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety called for new ways to increase funding for the sector, with commissioner Tony Pagone backing a Medicare-style levy that was spent solely on aged care, and commissioner Lynelle Briggs recommending a general levy of one per cent to go into federal coffers and support the sector.
Asked about a levy, Wells did not rule out the idea and said it should be on the agenda for a new taskforce she will chair to bring together policy experts and community leaders.
Members of the taskforce include former NSW premier Mike Baird, University of Canberra professor Tom Calma, former Finance Department secretary Rosemary Huxtable, ACH Group chair Mary Patetsos and former Treasury official Nigel Ray.
The government expects a blueprint from the advisory group at the end of the year.
“The evidence is there – what was missing was any kind of political will to actually sort it out,” she said.
The timeframe raises expectations for change in the May budget next year as well as the passage of the Aged Care Act at some point in 2024, but Wells played down the prospect of major new federal spending after Labor increased outlays on aged care in the May budget.
Spending on aged care services is forecast to grow from $25.8 billion this financial year to $31.8 billion next year and $35.9 billion in the year to June 2025, according to the May budget.
Coalition aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston criticised Wells for not ruling out an aged care levy.
“The Coalition stands ready to work constructively with the government for the future sustainability of our critical aged care sector, but that doesn’t mean a new tax is the answer,” she said.
Ruston also questioned how Wells could be the chair of the taskforce when this could result in “less genuine consultation” with the sector.
The minister was backed by Catholic Health Australia, whose chair John Watkins, a former deputy premier of NSW, will sit on the taskforce.
“The Royal Commission’s work was hugely important, but it left unanswered the great question of how to fund the sector in the long term,” said CHA aged care director Jason Kara.
Council on the Ageing chief Pat Sparrow, also named to the taskforce, said the minister’s road map was a good step forward.
“Older people continue to tell us they are willing to contribute more towards their care, when they have the means to do so, if there is better quality care, the arrangements are transparent, and strong consumer protections are in place,” she said.
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