Australia’s aged care crisis

JULIE COLLINS, SHADOW MINISTER FOR AGEING AND MENTAL HEALTH: Labor welcomes this action from the Government. We think that Australians, particularly those loved ones of people who are currently in residential aged care, would support this. But the Government has been sitting on this report since October last year. The Government also has more than a dozen reports sitting on their desk. The Government needs to ensure we have a quality aged care system so that older Australians are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. We know that this Government has three Ministers in five years for aged care. We know that it has ripped billions out of the aged care system. What we need to see from the Government in the upcoming Federal Budget is more action on both this report and other reports, but also more investment into aged care. We have now, in Australia, more than 100,000 Australians sitting on a waiting list for home care packages. We think it’s about time the Government dealt with this issue and I’ll continue to put pressure on the Government to do so.

 

JOURNALIST: Do you think there needs to be more oversight because there are some bad apples within the aged care sector?

 

COLLINS: Well I think the majority of people currently in residential care are treated well. I think the majority of Australians know that their loved ones are being cared for but we need some surety in the system. We know that there have been instances where people have not been treated appropriately. We need to make sure that whatever system we have, that the community has confidence in it. That people entering into the facilities have confidence in it. That their families and loved ones have confidence in it. We think that the Government needs to do more than it is currently doing. Obviously we welcome this announcement and I look forward to the changes being up and running from 1 January as the Minister has said but there is more to be done.

 

JOURNALIST: When you say more needs to be done are you talking more nurses? More education? More funding?

 

COLLINS: I think that the Government needs to respond to the more than a dozen reports. The reports are about quality, they’re about making sure that older Australians are well cared for. Obviously the quality of care is linked to funding and when you’ve ripped money out of the aged care system you can’t expect it to have no effect. What we need to ensure is that there is adequate staffing, that people are being cared for, that they are receiving all the care that they need and you can’t do that by piecemeal. You need a proper reform strategy and I would encourage the Government to do some major reform in this upcoming Budget and we’re willing to work with the sector and the Government to ensure that that happens.

 

JOURNALIST: We’ve seen some fairly high profile issues of incidents or facilities in the media surrounding the aged care sector, do you think if action was taken sooner it could have saved lives?

COLLINS: Well what we need is a system that makes sure that all the checks and balances are in place. What we need is a system where if someone has concern that they can go and know that that concern is going to be dealt with. We need to ensure that the community and the loved ones of those in residential aged care and the people themselves have confidence in the system. Anything that can be done to ensure that confidence is there, we support and we welcome and we want to see the Government do more sooner.

 

JOURNALIST: Do you think the delays could cost lives though?

 

COLLINS: Well the Government has been sitting on this report since October last year and here we are quite a way down the track and this new system won’t be up and running until January next year. The Government did initially say that it would have the spot checks happening and that is now happening, but again that has only been happening since March of this year. The Government has been slow to respond and it must respond to the other reports as a matter of urgency.

 

JOURNALIST: What are we seeing in Tasmania’s aged care system?

 

COLLINS: Well I think what we see here in Tasmania is in regional areas like Tasmania, it is very difficult to ensure that we have the adequate staffing and quality staff that we need in the aged care system. The Government currently has a Workforce Taskforce, looking at issues around workforce in aged care and we want to see the Government respond quickly to that as well. It’s due to report in June. It doesn’t have on it a workers’ representative or a union member and given that most of the people work in aged care are indeed workers, perhaps the Government should have done that and we want to see what that report says.

 

JOURNALIST: Do you think that this will actually work to prevent abuse and neglect? Do you think it will have an impact?

COLLINS: We obviously have said we want an aged care system that is as strong as it can be. We want to make sure that all Australians have confidence in our aged care system. Anything that can be done to ensure that should be done and we’d encourage the Government to do as much as it can do and to respond to those other reports. The community needs to have confidence in this system, as I said the majority of Australians in residential aged care are getting quality care, providers are doing the right thing in the majority of cases. What we need to ensure is that everybody in aged care can have the care and the quality they need and we need to ensure that we have confidence in that system.

 

JOURNALIST:  Do you think that because some providers are acting as profit making businesses, do you think that creates inherent risks?

 

COLLINS: Well I think if we have enough safeguards in the system and the quality framework we need for aged care it won’t matter whether the providers are from different sectors. What we need to ensure is that aged care is adequately funded, that the staff are adequately qualified and that there is a very high minimum standard quality of care for our loved ones.