Changes are coming for Australia’s aged care system

Australia’s subsidised aged care services now help around 1.5 million older people to receive care and support. Taxpayers contributed A$28 billion to the various programs in 2022-23. And yet the system is governed by an act that was first passed in 1997.

A lot has changed over the past two and a half decades – more people are living longer with chronic conditions and impairments that necessitate care, more of that care helps people stay in their own home, older people have more choice and control, and quality and safety are subject to tighter regulation and improved enforcement.

These and many other reforms are welcome. But as a result, the 1997 Aged Care Act has become a patchwork of change upon change. So when is the new act due, and what does it aim to achieve?

What we know so far

Following the report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the government is rewriting the act with a view to it commencing on July 1 2024 – less than five months from now.

Parts of an initial draft of the act have been released for public consultation. The proposed act adopts a rights-based approach to caring for older Australians, and consolidates and simplifies multiple pieces of existing legislation.

Some of the improvements will include:

• establishing a complaints commissioner to increase the independence and transparency of investigating aged care complaints
• increasing whistleblower protections so older people, their families and aged care workers feel comfortable about exposing unacceptable treatment from a provider
• streamlining access to aged care through a single-assessment process, rather than older people having to be assessed by different organisations depending on their particular care needs.

But several significant issues have yet to be addressed. The partial draft of the act lacks any provision relating to the proposed fees, payments and subsidies, or about how people with different needs will be prioritised and how aged care places will be allocated to them.

Read the full article here: Changes are coming for Australia’s aged care system