ACCPA calls on politicians to back Taskforce recommendations immediately

Industry peak body Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) wants the current political impasse over the Aged Care Taskforce suggestions to end, urging politicians to back the recommendations so that much-needed reforms can be put into motion. 

It has been four months since the Federal Government published the Taskforce’s report and recommendations, and eight months since they were first presented to the Government. 

However, no official response has been made despite the Taskforce – organised by the Government – reaching its own consensus on how to build a sustainable aged care sector in Australia. 

“We don’t need more consultations. We’ve done that. We need urgent action to land these reforms before the next election. That means the new Aged Care Act must be introduced to Parliament in August.,” said ACCPA CEO Tom Symondson.

“As a member of the Taskforce, I can say this has been an open process with genuine negotiations and consultation with older people, providers, unions and many others over many months. But now we’re running out of time.  

“For the sake of older Australians and the survival of our sector, we need to urgently progress this. This is one of the final pieces to addressing the recommendations of the Royal Commission.”

Mr Symondson said the Australian people need confidence that the system can sustainably deliver quality care. 

There have been growing concerns over the Government’s lack of communication regarding the Aged Care Act. The opposition Coalition Government’s Minister for Health and Aged Care, Anne Ruston, has criticised the lack of transparency, which the Government has promoted as a strong point. 

Yet as half of residential care providers continue to operate at a loss and the viability of home care trends down, the positive return from aged care reforms is yet to be felt. 

That’s not to say positive strides have not been made, but by not acting on the Taskforce reforms there is every chance that the “generational change” will not provide the desired impact for providers today.

“Improving the lives of older Australians is the number one aim of aged care providers. A new Act was a fundamental recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and welcomed by our members. It will be a vital piece of aged care reform moving forward,” Mr Symondson said.

“We need to seize this moment to fix Australia’s aged care system. I encourage all politicians to show the leadership our older people are looking for.”

Right now there are two key sticking points for the political impasse: the increase and/or removal of the lifetime contribution cap and the potential criminal penalties for providers in the wrong. 

The Coalition disagrees with jail terms for providers, while the industry also fears that stronger penalties will deter newcomers from taking up key positions. There is some wiggle room for changes to the lifetime contribution cap, although they want more information on what this will look like for older people. 

The Government believes that increasing the residential care cap, and removing the home care cap, can inject more funding into the sector. Another option is allowing for means-tested co-contributions, which the Taskforce recommended but has not heard any official response for. 

Mr Symondson said the Government has to stand up and commit to backing the Taskforce recommendations now if it wants a viable and stable sector. 

“Chronic underfunding of aged care goes back decades, and has made the sector totally unsustainable,” he said.

“We know our population is ageing and we are going to need hundreds of thousands of new beds in the coming decades. However, the parlous financial state of the sector has meant that banks have been reluctant to lend the money needed to invest in growing our services. That means we’re building a fraction of the capacity we are going to need.

“Older Australians are demanding and deserve higher levels of care and we need to be able to provide it for them. To do that we need a viable and stable sector, ready and able to grow, to deliver the care of the future.”