The Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) congratulates our elected politicians for reaching bipartisan agreement on historic reforms that will be vital to all Australians now and in the future.
A new, rights-based Aged Care Act was the number one recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and the Act will also deliver on dozens of other recommendations.
“We must congratulate both the Government and the Coalition for finding a way through after months of intense negotiations. They have put older Australians and the future of aged care above party politics,” ACCPA CEO Tom Symondson said.
“The Albanese Government has shown real leadership putting aged care reform back on the national agenda, first through the Aged Care Taskforce chaired by Minister Anika Wells, and now through the introduction of legislation.”
“Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been true to his word in offering bipartisan support. The Coalition has been instrumental in finding a way forward during negotiations, joining the Government in putting older Australians first.”
“Minister Anika Wells, Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler and Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston should all be congratulated for working through such complex legislation and delivering a genuinely bi-partisan outcome.”
Australia’s population is ageing, with demand for aged care set to spiral in coming decades. At the same time Australians are demanding and deserve higher levels of care.
“Improving the lives of older Australians is the number one priority for aged care providers. A new Act was the most fundamental recommendation of the Royal Commission and one that had universal support, including from providers. Without it, genuine reform for aged care would essentially be dead,” Mr Symondson said.
Currently more than half of residential aged care providers are losing money and they have been for more than five years. Home and community care providers are only just keeping their heads above water with many older people waiting over a year for crucial services because of waiting lists have blown out.
It’s hoped these reforms will bring structured and sustainable financial security to the sector, leading to a vibrant, growing aged care system, that meets the needs of older Australians now and in the future.
“We will need at least ten thousand new beds to be opened per year for the next two decades to keep up with demand, and today we are closing more than we’re opening. We need investment to turn the situation around, and this legislation will enable that.”
“Australia can build an aged care system that’s the envy of the world, but we need help to do it. Older Australians deserve this future, alongside the confidence of knowing that the nation is fully committed to achieving it.”
“Of course there is more to be done from here, with the bill needing to pass rapidly through both houses of parliament so that it can be implemented, but this is a critical step in that journey, a step that many believed might never happen. Today, older people won a great victory.”
