Shadow Minister calls for Government transparency over aged care reforms

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Anne Ruston has called on the Federal Government to be more transparent and communicative with consumers, aged care providers and retirement living providers to ensure it gets aged care reform right. 

Senator Ruston appeared at the National Retirement Living Summit where she told the crowd it is her job to make sure policies put in place by governments actually deliver solutions to the barriers service providers face. 

“I’m probably stating the bleeding obvious, but the reason I was so keen to have the opportunity to talk with you today is I can see the retirement living sector is such a vital piece of the puzzle as we go through this reform journey,” she said.

“One of the things I find most useful in terms of understanding what the whole journey of aged care looks like is actually getting into a room and speaking to people first-hand. I don’t know what you know. The reason I’m here is because I believe the only way you make good policy development is by having the people who it affects in the room. And that’s not just you, it’s the older Australians you look after.”

Senator Ruston used some of her time on stage to share her personal experience with aged care as her mother lived in a retirement community before passing away last year. Despite the loss, the Senator was proud to see retirement living provided her with new social connections and hobbies. 

She said that firsthand experience has strengthened her goal of helping older Australians better understand what retirement living can offer as part of the overall continuum of care. 

“Older Australians need to have a choice and they need to have options and we need to make sure that we balance what we’re providing in making sure that Australians are getting the quality aged care journey they need,” she added.

Transparency is a must

While the Shadow Minister will have to watch from the wings as much of the aged care reform journey takes place, she did express concerns over current Government shortcomings.

This included the lack of focus on retirement living in the 2024 Budget, particularly where housing is concerned. But she also said the Government’s approach to home care, although helpful, doesn’t go far enough. 

“We are about to face a tsunami of demand because we know there is an ageing population coming into the ranks of requiring aged care assistance. Recent data is quite terrifying in terms of how long people are waiting to access home care packages,” she said.

“We found out at estimates that older Australians who have already been assessed as needing level three and level four home care packages are waiting as long as 9 to 12 months for those packages. 

“We’re looking at 68,000 Australians who have been assessed as needing a home care package who do not have it. Whilst I acknowledge the $531 million the Minister [for Aged Care, Anika Wells] referred to in relation to home care packages, that accounts for 24,100 packages. We have a waitlist of 68,000. I think that is massively inadequate.”

The Government’s response  – or lack of – to the Aged Care Taskforce recommendations was another talking point. While they belatedly published the Taskforce’s final report, no public response has been made. 

Senator Ruston admitted to the crowd she supports the recommendations put forward by Taskforce and has had some discussions with the Government around how these reforms can be translated into legislation. She would even be happy to support any “sensible reform” to ensure the sector is fit for purpose. 

It’s expected that some response will be seen in the Aged Care Act, with Senator Ruston urging the Government to be more transparent about their decision-making process. 

“The one thing I would say to the Government that they really should be doing is don’t be talking behind closed doors. Put this information out in the public domain. Let you [the public] have your say about what’s in it because you’re the experts. We’re not the experts, the Department of Health and Aged Care is not the experts despite the fact sometimes they think they are,” she said.

“Actually speak to people like you, but more importantly than that, speak to older Australians and their families about what they want going forward. I know we are at the cusp of an opportunity to make real reform, but we must make sure it is right.

“We need to get the sunlight onto this response and this legislation so we can make the amendments, so we can get it in place and  so we can actually deliver on the promises everyone’s made.”

Collaboration with consumers

A recurring theme during Senator Ruston’s speech and Q&A with Retirement Living Council Executive Director, Daniel Gannon, was the focus on engaging with older Australians. She repeatedly said governments must always ask consumers what they want so providers can understand exactly how to design their service delivery. 

Collaboration and communication with providers are equally important, as she noted many legislative barriers appear to be “completely senseless” and they “don’t achieve anything apart from getting in the way”. 

Handing out more trust in the retirement living sector – and by extension, aged care – is one solution mentioned. 

“I think as legislators, we obviously need to make sure the rules are in place to keep older Australians safe, that’s number one. We need to make sure we have a system that has the regulatory framework so you don’t get cowboys coming in and doing bad things. That’s my job,” she added.

“But after that, we really do need to start trusting the sector to understand how they deliver the needs, particularly your sector.”