Dr Linda Mellors, Managing Director and CEO of Regis Aged Care, and Clare Douglas, CEO of Healthy Ageing at Mercy Health Australia, appeared before the Senate Inquiry into the Aged Care Bill 2024 last week delivering a sober message. 

Together, the providers care for more than 16,000 older Australians, and both leaders expressed reservations about the reforms, but warned that if the Bill is not passed this year, there will be dire consequences. 

When Senator Anne Ruston asked what the consequences would be if the reforms are not passed this year, Linda replied, “We will have older people in hospitals where that is not the right place of care. We will have older people at home not able to access care. From a community perspective, if we don't get this done now, it will be a disaster."

Clare said, “Most of us are nearly full and and it takes a few years to build. If we delay the bill, then we're really going to make it much worse." 

Transition period for Support at Home 

Despite the urgency of the reforms, Clare, as the leader of an organisation with more than 4,500 home care clients, said she would like to see Support at Home reforms delayed or introduced with an “at least 12-month transition period”. 

"I am concerned that the detail of the program has only recently been released, and the funding will not be released until February 2025,” she said. “I am unsure how Mercy Health will be ready on the 1st of July 2025." 

Lack of consultation on Support at Home 

Support at Home reforms around co-contributions and the services list “were not openly consulted on”, Clare said. Mercy Health would like to see Daily Living services, such as showering, included as a clinical category. 

The 50% reduction in care management fees is also a “significant” concern that Mercy Health “worries” will interfere with its ability to stay connected to clients to ensure "they don't deteriorate, they don't end up in hospital, or they don't end up in residential aged care too early”, Clare said. 

Training to cost millions 

Training on the reforms will cost Regis, with more than 11,000 staff, millions of dollars at a rate of $650,000 every hour, Linda told the Senators.

Regis would like to see the whistleblower provisions amended so that only people in positions of responsibility or independence are able to be the recipient of whistleblower disclosures.

And they would like to see the definition of high quality care simplified "with goals that can be achieved within the rules and the funding provided”. 

Unintended consequences 

Asking consumers on the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) to pay more for a Home Care Package may “inadvertently shift the behaviour of providers and consumers” for example by causing some consumers to stay on the CHSP, preventing them from accessing additional services they need, Clare cautioned.

Mercy Health also "strongly supports” the Government’s commitment to introduce 300,000 Home Care Packages over the next ten years. The Weekly SOURCE published on Monday, 76,000 people have been assessed for a Home Care Package are still waiting for one.