The Village Glen's Chief Operating Officer Peter Nilsson said in all his 28 years attending the national conference of retirement village operators he had never seen a senior bureaucrat from the Department of Health and Aged Care speaking.
Dr Nick Hartland PSM, First Assistant Secretary, Ageing and Aged Group, Department of Health and Aged Care, was part of a panel with Cassandra Mathews, Chief Executive – Seniors Living, Anglicare Sydney; Cameron Holland, CEO - Australia, Ryman Healthcare; and Bev Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Amplar Health.
It represented the fact that the operators of retirement villages are wanting to see their residents' age in place whenever possible, with the expectation of people moving into retirement, living that home care services are going to be provided, either by the operator, or a third party.
Dr Hartland said he was surprised at the reaction to the fact retirement villages were mentioned in the Draft Exposure of the new Aged Care Act as many operators are providing taxpayer-funded home care.
He said the government had solved the funding issue in residential care, in terms of the care side, with the losses coming from accommodation. He said he would leave how the losses from accommodation would be rectified for the Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells, to announce.
"If you can get to a situation where providers have a path to fully fund their accommodation as has been suggested in the taskforce then I think we would feel that you've got the basis for the sector being able to see investment starting to come into the sector."
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