Aged Care Legislated Review - Public Consultations

Details

Your chance to tell the Australian Government what you think about Aged Care

Short notice: Aged Care Crisis wants to ensure you are aware of public consultations scheduled to take place (beginning in February) as part of the Aged Care Legislated Review.

These public consultations provide an opportunity for aged care recipients, their families and representatives, as well as aged care workers and service providers to have their views on aged care heard. The review is specifically looking at changes made to aged care over the past five years.

Consultation sessions are taking place around the country but there has been no information published on the Department's website or any notification provided to people who contributed to the Review.

Aged Care Crisis’s submission to the review’s consultation can be found here: ACC Submission287.22 KB Other submissions are published on the department's website here: view submissions.

Issues might include (but not limited to):

  • Access to aged care services - how hard or easy is this for consumers (including regional, rural and remote areas)
  • Experience in accessing Level 3 and 4 packages
  • Access to a range of information on aged care services, including compliance information such as substantiated complaints and feedback
  • 'Choice' implies people have enough information to be empowered to make the right 'choice' - what sort of information is important
  • The impact of further exposure of aged care to an open market along with deregulation and less oversight, whilst simultaneously promoting 'choice'
  • Importance of data collection (to inform aged care policy)
  • Loss of regional and community input into aged care services
  • Access to aged care services for CALD background consumers
  • Complexity of entering aged care requiring 'specialist' consultancy services
  • The imposition of mandatory home care 'exit fees'
  • Accuracy of fees published on the MyAgedCare website
  • Affordability of aged care - and the emergence of a two tier aged care system
  • Effectiveness of workforce strategies in aged care is discounted by federal aged care legislation - which currently excludes safe staffing levels and any skills
  • Effectiveness of arrangements for protecting RADs and accommodation bonds; issues such as if the bond guarantee scheme were to be phased out, how would consumers feel?
  • How important is it to continue to have charitable or not-for-profit organisations in providing care VS for-profit or listed companies
  • Improvements to MyAgedCare - would including staffing levels and skills help to exercise your choice as a consumer?
  • Improvements to assessment process - what would consumers like to see?

Aged Care Crisis encourage those who have personal experience of aged care, or their representatives, to register to attend one of the sessions below as soon as possible by emailing the Review Project Team directly on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This review is being conducted by Mr David Tune AO PSM on behalf of the Australian Government about aged reforms and is scheduled to table its report in Parliament in August 2017.

Location and times: Locations for each state below; 9:00am - 10:30am on the days listed below (except Canberra which will be 10:00am - 11:30am)

  • Canberra - 3 February 2017
    Department of Health: Sirius Building, Furzer Street, Woden
  • Bendigo - 7 February 2017
    The Bendigo Club: 22 Park Street, Bendigo
  • Melbourne - 8 February 2017
     Department of Health: 2 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
  • Hobart - 9 February 2017
    Wrest Point: 410 Sandy Point Road, Sandy Bay
  • Bundaberg - 13 February 2017
    The Waves Sports Club: 1 Miller Street, Bundaberg
  • Brisbane - 14 February 2017
    Department of Health: 160 Ann Street, Brisbane
  • Sydney - 21 February 2017
    Department of Health: 260 Elizabeth Street, Sydney
  • Port Augusta – 27 February 2017
    Standpipe Golf Motor Inn: Daw Street, Port Augusta
  • Adelaide - 28 February 2017
    Department of Health: 11-29 Waymouth Street, Adelaide
  • Darwin - 7 March 2017
    Department of Health: 39-41 Woods Street, Darwin
  • Perth - 21 March 2017
    Crowne Plaza Perth: 54 Terrace Road, Perth
More information: Aged Care Legislated Review

Aged Care Legislated Review

As part of the changes to aged care announced in 2012, a comprehensive review was included in the Aged Care (Living Longer Living Better) Act 2013 (the Act). The Aged Care Legislated Review (the Review) will look at the impact of the changes to date and where we need to take the system in the future.

On 22 September 2016, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care the Hon Ken Wyatt AO MP announced the appointment of Mr David Tune AO, PSM to lead the Review.

The Aged Care Sector Committee will provide advice to inform the Review as required.

Scope of the Review

Section 4 of the Act requires that the Review must be independent and address nine key matters:

  1. whether unmet demand for residential and home care places has been reduced
  2. whether the number and mix of places for residential care and home care should continue to be controlled
  3. whether further steps could be taken to change key aged care services from a supply driven model to a consumer demand driven model
  4. the effectiveness of means testing arrangements for aged care services, including an assessment of the alignment of charges across residential care and home care services
  5. the effectiveness of arrangements for regulating prices for aged care accommodation
  6. the effectiveness of arrangements for protecting equity of access to aged care services for different population groups
  7. the effectiveness of workforce strategies in aged care services, including strategies for the education, recruitment, retention and funding of aged care workers
  8. the effectiveness of arrangements for protecting refundable deposits and accommodation bonds
  9. the effectiveness of arrangements for facilitating access to aged care services.

The Minister can also specify any other issues to be considered by the Review.

Review timing

The Act requires that:

  • the Review be undertaken as soon as practicable after the end of the period of 3 years after the commencement of Schedule 1
  • a written report of the Review must be provided to the Minister within 12 months after the end of the three year period.

The Review started on 22 September 2016 following the announcement of the appointment of Mr Tune. A final report on the Review will be completed by 1 August 2017.

Consultation

The Review must include public consultation with:

  1. approved providers
  2. aged care workers
  3. consumers
  4. people with special needs
  5. carers
  6. representatives of consumers.

Submissions

A call for submissions opened on 14 October 2016 and closed on 4 December 2016. The Review Project Team received a number of requests from stakeholders for extensions beyond the closing date, which were granted.

Through the submissions, the Review sought feedback specifically relating to the nine matters listed in the Scope of the Review. A total of 143 submissions were received from a range of stakeholders, including consumers, carers, providers and peak bodies. The feedback received is now being analysed. 

View submissions.

Contact

For more information about the Review email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Source: Department of Health, as at 10 Jan 2017