Submissions have closed for the Senate Inquiry into the Federal Government’s Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022.
The Bill, introduced by Aged Care Minister Anika Wells (pictured) on the first full sitting day of Parliament in July, contains three of the Government’s 2022 election commitments relating to aged care, including:
- introducing a responsibility for residential aged care facilities to have a registered nurse on site and on duty at all times,
- allowing the government to cap administration and management home care fees, and
- requiring the Department to publish certain information about providers with a view to creating greater transparency.
Uniting, the largest provider of aged care services in NSW and the ACT, caring for 7,200 people last year, said it hopes the industry will be closely consulted about changes to information disclosure. While Uniting agrees greater transparency is needed, the Not For Profit says it also needs to be balanced with a requirement for the data collected to be meaningful and not overly burdensome for providers to collect and report.
Uniting said it agrees with the proposal to ban exit fees because it gets in the way of consumer choice, but said caps on admin and care management fees should be phased in over two years to allow providers to adapt.
The provider also said in its submission that allocating 40 minutes of registered nurse time per day for every resident in some homes – for example low-care homes – could be “a misallocation of precious resources”.
Estia, another of the country’s largest aged care providers, caring for 8,000 residents every year, wrote that mandated care minutes suggests services other than direct care are of “lesser importance” to aged care residents. The ASX-listed provider wrote that mandated care minutes add to rostered care time “without demonstrable benefit to the resident”.
Estia also noted that the registered nurse requirements are unlikely to be achieved, due to a severe shortage, and noted that the requirements to have an RN on duty 24/7 could have the unintended consequence of making enrolled nurses “unattractive to the sector” as they don’t count in the care mix and carers may replace them. Enrolled nurses could leave the sector as a result, Estia predicted.
Anglicare Australia, another of Australia’s largest providers – which provides care for approximately 68,000 people – said workforce shortages are in part due to a lack of affordable housing.
“For low-paid aged care workers, many working part-time, finding an affordable rental house is virtually impossible in many parts of Australia. Some providers are forced to offer housing options to attract staff.”
Anglicare is concerned that mandatory staffing requirements will force some homes to close due to the additional financial burden it will impose. This issue is particularly serious in very remote areas of Australia where aged care services are scarce.
Consumer advocate OPAN wrote in its submission that it supports nurses in aged care homes 24/7, and believes the requirement should be mandated sooner, rather than delayed until 2024.
“Health related incidents don’t just happen in the day time,” in OPAN’s opinion.
OPAN is also in support of caps on home care and admin charges and a ban on exit charges.
“Issues relating to home care package fees, charges and statements continue to be raised within advocacy case work across the nation and continue to be one of the top issues advocates are assisting with,” it said.
