Peak body, the Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA), has released a pre-Budget submission, calling on the government to support funding, workforce, and innovation and to increase the role of consumer contributions in funding aged care.

ACCPA is calling on the Government to implement increased consumer contributions for everyday living, home care, and accommodation, and set the maximum permissible interest rate at no less than 8%.

They are also calling for a $6.1 billion investment over three years to fund 80,000 additional home care packages and the introduction of a dental health program in aged care.

ACCPA wants the government to invest $990 million over three years to support technology investment in aged care and is calling on the Government to fully fund last week's aged care worker pay rise.

“We fully expect the Government to honour its pre-election commitment to fully fund these increases, just as it did for last year’s 15% pay rises for direct care workers,” said ACCPA CEO Tom Symondson. 

“Aged care in Australia is at a crossroads, but keeping up to date with developments, including new technology, will be a key to future success in this digital age of change.

“The use of cutting-edge digital technology for data collection and analysis, can support aged care providers to continue their journey on quality and sustainability, as well as easing the administrative burden.

“Aged care has been chronically underfunded for decades and we can’t keep going like this. The time is now. With the release of the Aged Care Taskforce’s report last week, we can finally have some confidence for the future of our sector."

You can read ACCPA's recommendations in full in the submission here.