The peak bodies, Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA), The Aged Care Guild (The Guild) and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), have separately issued their own joint demand to the Federal Government for increased funding, citing new figures by aged care accountants StewartBrown.
“Over 40% of aged care providers are now making a loss and many more are struggling to remain financially viable, particularly those in remote and rural areas and providers looking after the most disadvantaged including homeless people,” ACSA CEO Pat Sparrow said.
They want an immediate ‘adjustment payment’ for the sector in the upcoming 2018-19 Budget, while longer-term work on new funding arrangements is being done.
The Government’s $1.2 billion cuts to the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) in 2016 kicked off a wave of reviews into how the sector is funded which the Government is still considering.
Based on these figures however, how much longer can providers – and residents – afford to wait?
