The keynote speaker at the StewartBrown 2023 Aged Care Finance Forum, Senior Partner Grant Corderoy, opened the day with his statement that we could be experiencing the rebirth of the aged care sector and the next five years will be exciting.
The basis of this statement is that the sector is now getting ‘clarity’ on the regulatory environment that it will be operating.
On top of this he sees the establishment of the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) as one of the most important initiatives, as its mandate is to provide an ‘independent’ view of the sector that included the requirement operators include an administration fee and a margin.
He pointed to the wording of the mandate of the Aged Care Taskforce, including “providers be substantially funded”. Grant stated “these are words we haven’t heard for many years by Government.”
He emphasised that the baby boomer is now with us and is already demonstrating that they will want more services, and that they are prepared to pay for these services. Additionally, their children are accustomed to seeing their parents spend cash on themselves and they are accepting of this.
With Home Care, now at 270,000 packages and ‘just’ 30,198 people queued to receive a package, he believes we have reached the natural level for the country, which will allow vacancy levels in residential aged care to also settle down, growing to 95%.
The Taskforce will release its report by 31 December, just 11 weeks away, which will be the final piece in the sector’s delivery of ‘clarity’.
Over 200 attended the Finance Forum in Sydney. StewartBrown is now taking the forum to all other capital cities.
