Residential Aged Care Policy in Australia - Are We Learning from Evidence?

Residential Aged Care Policy in Australia – Are We Learning from Evidence?

Baldwin, R., Chenoweth, L. and dela Rama, M. (2015), Residential Aged Care Policy in Australia – Are We Learning from Evidence?. Australian Journal of Public Administration. doi: 10.1111/1467-8500.12131

University of Technology Sydney

Abstract:

The residential aged care industry in Australia will expand rapidly over the next 10 years leading to substantial increases in government expenditure. Recent and future reforms are likely leading to changes in the structure of the industry with a potential impact on quality of care.

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate broader public debate, based on the available evidence, about the preferred structure of this important industry.

It examines the literature on the impact structure has on the quality of services and compares this with a fresh analysis of current trends. The paper argues that future policy should be evidence based and explicit about the structure of the industry that will emerge from current policy reforms.

Keywords: Curricula; education; gerodontics; planning; review

• "Researchers warn of two-tier aged care" Australian Ageing Agenda
• Analysis: two-tiered system emerging for aged care (Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Mar 2015)
  Australia is facing the emergence of a two-tiered system in residential aged care, with the commercial sector dominating major cities and the non-profit sector operating in outer regional and remote locations. An analysis of 10 years of aged care data from the former Department of Health and Ageing found the for-profit residential aged care sector has grown at more than double the rate of its non-profit equivalent. The number of beds in non-profit organisations increased by 19 per cent, well below the 46 per cent jump under private services. Data shows the for-profit residential aged care sector has grown at more than double the rate of its non-profit equivalent. Photo: Rob Homer Lead researcher Richard Baldwin, from the University of Technology, Sydney, said not only were there more commercial providers, but that the aged care homes they operated were becoming larger.