Talking Point: Older Australians are right to raise concerns

We know that Australia is ageing rapidly.

We know that demand for home care and clinical support will increase substantially over the next two decades.

But another reality is that workforce growth has not kept pace with projected demand.

More people want to stay at home for longer and demand for personal care and clinical support will keep rising. The sector, through its peak body, Ageing Australia, is advocating for personal care to be treated as clinical services, which do not attract a contribution fee.

The new Aged Care Act represents the most significant structural redesign of home care funding and pricing in decades.

Older Australians are raising concerns about recent fee increases, and those concerns deserve a clear explanation.

These changes sit within a national reform process. Providers are applying settings defined in legislation and regulation. It is important that the discussion reflects how these decisions were made and who is responsible for them.

The new Act is a major redesign of the way home care is funded.

The Federal Government introduced a transition period that allows providers to set prices while future regulation is developed.

Prices were set with guidance developed with the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority, which is designed to generate real cost data, so sustainable price caps can be set in future years. This is part of the policy design, not a decision made independently by the sector.

While the sector continues to adjust to the new Act, it is important that public discussion reflects the full policy context – rather than attributing outcomes solely to service providers.

Too often the inference in media commentary is that providers are ripping off clients.

At Community Based Support, we are proud that the vast majority of our staff work here because they are committed to the cause.

Our clients are the people we are caring for.

From a technical perspective, system and billing delays are not provider failure. That sits with the Commonwealth, reflecting that implementation pressures are impacting all parts of the sector.

Community Based Support has also structured our pricing to reflect the actual cost of delivering services.

All of our sector is implementing settings determined by government policy and regulation.

Across Australia, public funding supports the majority of aged care costs.

The other stark reality is that as Australia’s continues to age, expenditure will rise.

Governments of all persuasions face limits on what can be funded through taxation alone.

What the aged care and care sectors requires, includes:

· Adequate public investment

· Workforce supply

· Transparent pricing

· Realistic expectations about cost sharing

Without structural sustainability, access and quality to care will be compromised.

There is no doubt that some pricing decisions may warrant scrutiny from regulators.

However, most providers are managing increased compliance obligations, workforce shortages and transition costs while maintaining continuity of care. The majority of services operate on tight margins.

At Community Based Support, we believe that older Australians are right to raise concerns.

We listen actively and closely to our clients. If we don’t, they will take their custom elsewhere!

Community Based Support believes that productive reform requires collaboration between government, regulators, providers and consumers.

We will continue to work towards a better system and sector for our clients.

Allyson Warrington, Community Based Support CEO