The aged care sector’s peak bodies will reconsider the best way for the industry to advocate to Government and the wider community as it embarks on five years of rolling reforms.
The Australian Aged Care Collaboration, which comprises Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA), Anglicare Australia, Baptist Care Australia (BCA), Catholic Health Australia (CHA), Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) and UnitingCare Australia (UCA) and represents 1,000 providers, was formed ahead of the release of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s Final Report in February.
Now it has joined with the Aged Care Reform Network (ACRN), a combination of large private and Not For Profit operators, such as Allity, Bolton Clarke, Estia, HammondCare, Opal, Regis and Uniting NSW/ACT, and formed a Steering Committee, which has commissioned KPMG to undertake a comprehensive and independent analysis of the best practice representation models.
The Steering Committee is comprised of:
- John Watkins AM, Chair of CHA (pictured above);
- Mike Baird, CEO Hammond Care, ACSA;
- Mark Sewell, CEO Warrigal, ACSA;
- Nick Loudon, CEO Envigor, LASA;
- Kerri Rivett, CEO Royal Freemasons, LASA;
- Russell Bricknell, Chair of Baptist Care Australia, BCA;
- Tracey Burton, CEO/ED, Uniting NSW/ACT, UCA;
- Grant Millard, Board member Anglicare Australia, ACA; and
- Tomas Chubb, CEO of Allity, ACRN.
“The sector has undertaken work in the past on the representation model,” said Mr Watkins.
“So, there was a feeling among a number of providers that it was unfinished business. It was the Chairs of the two major aged care peak organisations and the faith-based bodies that formed the Steering Committee at a meeting in August. It is also part of the AACC’s work plan, a key element of which was to research and consult on the best representative models for the sector. This led to the establishment of the Steering Committee.”
“We have a tight timeframe and a large workload but I am confident that KPMG assisted by the Steering Committee will be able to meet the deadline. There is a sense of urgency as the aged care sector is undergoing major reform and we need the industry’s voice to be heard.”
LASA CEO Sean Rooney said the sector does not help its cause by having multiple voices.
“We need to be unified in representation and collaboration. We experienced being unified, to a degree, as the Australian Aged Care Collaboration, and now we are looking at more options.
“This is a genuine attempt to how we do our best for the people we are looking after.”
