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By Chris Hook
The National Aged Care Alliance has slipped into election gear, calling for greater funding for the aged care sector.
In their election document, A Fair Go For
Older Australians, the Alliance calls for changes to policy in several key areas in the aged care sector, underlining the need for increased funding.
The Alliance is a broad-based coalition of aged care
stakeholders, including unions, employers and community and medical and nursing groups. It represents the interests of both older Australians and aged care providers, including Catholic Health. It released its Fair
Go document just prior to the announcement of the November 10 federal election with the aim of encouraging informed debate on aged care issues.
The document cites government statistics showing that the
proportion of the population aged 80 and over will more than double by 2030. We need to be planning now to provide services to meet the needs of these very aged people, said the Alliance.
Funding needs to be
more secure than at present so care does not deteriorate as problems have already emerged, said the Alliance. It pointed to waiting periods for aged care services almost doubling in the past two years.
Current funding bears no relationship to the costs of care, said the Alliance. For example, aged care funding increases this year amount to less than half the current rate of inflation.
Lack of funding is
having a knock-on effect, restricting expenditure on both the maintenance of aged care homes and facilities, and the construction of new ones. It is also making it hard to attract qualified nursing staff as nurses
were now up to $155 a week better off working for public hospitals.
In A Fair Go for Older Australians the Aged Care Alliance calls for increased transparency when it comes to funding and for greater
involvement of those using aged care homes when it comes to accreditation, so as to ensure homes are of a good standard.
The Alliance also wants more funding directed to community care so older people can
remain in their own home if they wish with the help of community services. Community funding has declined by 12 percent in real terms since 1994–95, with the result that around a quarter of over-65s now report that
their needs for meals-on-wheels, home help, respite care and transport are not being met.
“The current policy debate in Australia around aged care is too often marked by political point scoring,” said the
Alliance, which said it wished to avoid this and instead “contribute positively to an informed debate on aged care in the belief that this is both a critical social responsibility and an economic imperative.”
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