the Aged Care Today magazine featured articles

At an organisational level, the ACCPA Board is also undergoing some change.

I’d like to congratulate the new Deputy Chairperson of ACCPA, Geraldine Lannon, who was elected by the directors at the ACCPA Board meeting on 13 February. She is the Chief Executive Officer of ACCPA member Baptcare and I am looking forward to working with her over the coming months.

The board has also begun the recruitment process to find my new successor and ensure a smooth transition.

As a sector, we are now reaching a pivotal time in the process of legislative transformation.

In response to the 2021 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the Australian Government committed to developing and introducing a new, rights-based Aged Care Act to replace the existing Act which dates back more than a quarter of a century to 1997.

For the whole ACCPA team, and especially those in policy and advocacy, the start of 2024 has been a time of intense activity as we’ve reached out to members to hear their views and concerns.

The consultation period opened in December 2023 and the Government extended this by three weeks to 8 March 2024, allowing more time for review.

The details and practical implementation of the new Act will continue to dominate the sector’s thoughts for some time yet.

We want members’ voices to be heard as we all work towards the common goal: to elevate the standards of care for older Australians while also ensuring long-term sector-wide sustainability.

ACCPA will continue to play a key role in extensive consultations, working towards the target date set by the Australian Government of 1 July 2024.

The landscape of aged care has been evolving rapidly, driven by three imperatives: to address the needs of our ageing population, the economic realities this presents, and the evolving expectations of older Australians for aged care services (including in their home).

Despite some uncertainty and delay, we are hopeful that this process will ultimately provide the surety required to move forward with confidence and plan for a successful transition.

That’s why we have been encouraging members to be involved.

Throughout January, we distributed member surveys about the sequencing of reforms, to support opportunities to advocate on transition timeframes – a key area of advocacy.

ACCPA’s Policy and Advocacy team has held a number of member engagement workshops on the exposure draft of the new Aged Care Act. These were extremely well attended, provided excellent information and opportunities for members to share viewpoints and concerns.

I encourage and invite members to continue to share their examples and experiences. This data will help inform policy that is more likely to result in better outcomes for the transformation of the sector to meet Australia’s long-term aged care needs.

I’d also like to congratulate all ACCPA staff members, and the leadership team, who have been working above and beyond in these unprecedented times, responding to members’ concerns and the not insignificant amount of work required.

With the new Act presenting an opportunity for transformation and improvement, our sector is at the cusp of enormous change.

Close collaboration with providers is needed to establish realistic transition timeframes, which demand careful planning and consideration, informed by your insights.

If realistic transition timeframes underpin the process, then we can all emerge from this period of change into an enhanced Australian aged care era that is fit for the future.