On 25 October last year, five upbeat members of the Aged Care Taskforce told 1,800 people at the ACCPA National Conference in Adelaide that they had confidence the Government was committed to making aged care sustainable and would deliver quality aged care.
Last night’s Budget, and the journey to its dismal, and in fact shallow, commitment of this sustainability and quality care, is depressing.
In summary, the Taskforce recommendations that will deliver wealthier consumer co-contribution to accommodation and daily living expenses were ignored. The Treasurer and his Budget document simply said consultation with the sector is continuing.
It can’t continue as it hasn’t started, five months after the Final Report was presented to the Government.
Mike Baird, an ex-Premier, stated last October that aged care was beyond politics. The majority of the public supported co-contribution and the Opposition tacitly agrees to co-contribution; there would be no more than token objections.
But it is now apparent that politics do matter. Mentioning any new initiative that would increase costs for any members of the public approximately 12 months out from the next election appears to have been rejected.
The result: 750 residential aged care operators and 900 home care operators are left in planning and financial limbo, either making losses or barely covering direct costs. Many are and will be closing.
No quality care in small towns. Less choice in regional and metro locations. Established, quality care teams will be scattered.
Mike Baird’s repeated basis for hope, as a sophisticated CEO, was that the extra revenue through co-contribution would make aged care fundable by the banks and institutional investors.
He understood that in 2022, approximately 520 net new aged care beds hit the market and approximately 1,600 in 2023, against a demand growth acknowledged by Government of approximately 8,000 additional customers a year.
The cavalier attitude of Government to giving sound direction to the sector and then not meeting it will further undermine banking and investment confidence.
Combine this with the failure of the Department of Health and Aged Care to execute its major initiatives and it is understandable why many senior executives are leaving the sector.
Consider the three most important structural initiatives by the Department in recent times.
The first is the new Support at Home program which was scheduled to launch in July 2023, then July 2024 and now July 2025.
The second is the Taskforce, regarded as a critical and urgent initiative. Their Report was delivered in December and now, five months later, there have been no public decisions on what will be taken up, except that any financial implications must be included in the new Aged Care Act. See below.
Third is the new Aged Care Act. It was due to commence in six weeks’ time but last night it was advanced to July 2025.
Add to these the edict of 200 staff minutes, including RNs, which was set as the target when it was well-documented that the sector was 5,600 RNs short. That remains the case as does the increased target of 215 minutes starting in October.
What this all adds up to, and confirmed in last night’s Budget, is that the sector cannot have confidence in the Government delivering a sustainable sector and quality aged care while the Government does not have security on its governing position.
We can be sure that the intent is there, but politics is too strong.
The saving grace is that the residents of small country towns who will lose their residential care and home care services, and the city customers who can’t get a bed or home care package, will understand that their plight is the result of politics. Unfortunately.
In October last year in Adelaide, Tom Symondson stated: “We will not leave the room until we have agreement.” We had agreement, but it would appear that we did not have the Cabinet’s votes.
