The big investment in aged care announced in last night’s federal budget – an extra A$17.7 billion over five years – is a welcome response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. But even an investment of this scale does not meet the level of ambition set by the royal commission.
The government has committed A$6.5 billion for more home-care packages (about A$2.5 billion more for home care per year when fully implemented), and A$7.1 billion for residential-care staffing and services (about $2.4 billion more for residential care per year when fully implemented).
But the government has failed to outline a clear vision of what older Australians should expect of their aged-care system.
However, it has not accepted six recommendations, including a levy to raise money for the sector and suggestions for reforming how much older Australians pay in contributions. The government is considering 12 further recommendations.
Stephen Duckett, the health program director at the Grattan Institute and a former secretary of the federal health department, is concerned the governmentâs spending increase of $17.7bn over five years âis about halfâ what the Grattan Institute and other economic modellers predicted would be needed to address the royal commission recommendations.
Duckett believes the governmentâs key pledge to clear the roughly 100,000-strong waiting list for home care packages cannot be achieved with the $6.5bn over five years allocated in the budget. The backlog is so pronounced the royal commission heard Australians were routinely dying while on the waiting list.
But advocates say the boost is little more than a good first step.
The massive funding injection forms the centrepiece of the governmentâs response to the aged care royal commission and includes $6.5 billion for an additional 80,000 home care packages over the next two years, bringing the total number available to 275,000.
From 2023 staff will be required to spend at least three hours and 20 minutes every day with each aged-care resident â a welcome boost that will rise to three hours and 35 minutes by 2024.
And resources were boosted in other areas, too.
From July 2022, at least one registered staff member will need to be on shift at every facility for a minimum of 16 hours a day, while significant amounts of money will be poured into up-skilling aged-care workers and enticing more Australians into the industry, including 33,800 training places under an expansion to JobTrainer.
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A complete overhaul of Australia’s troubled aged care system will be delivered within two years as the federal government responded to the aged care royal commission by immediately pumping billions of dollars into struggling providers.
Under sweeping changes to be introduced by the government, people will be able to choose aged care homes based on star ratings, there will be mandatory minimum minutes for care workers and nurses to spend with residents each day, and the workforce will be ramped up to meet growing demand.
Aged care received a boost in the budget.
Credit:
Delivering the federal government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s final report, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced $17.7 billion in “practical and targeted new funding” for the sector over the next five years.
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A complete overhaul of Australia’s troubled aged care system will be delivered within two years as the federal government responded to the aged care royal commission by immediately pumping billions of dollars into struggling providers.
Under sweeping changes to be introduced by the government, people will be able to choose aged care homes based on star ratings, there will be mandatory minimum minutes for care workers and nurses to spend with residents each day, and the workforce will be ramped up to meet growing demand.
Aged care received a boost in the budget.
Credit:
Delivering the federal government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s final report, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced $17.7 billion in “practical and targeted new funding” for the sector over the next five years.