Media Release
14 December 2021
The Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) has today launched an Aged Care Reform Scorecard, the first of a regular series to monitor progress on Royal Commission-recommended reform and ensure it’s on track.
The Scorecard consists of answers from providers to three key questions on Royal Commission reforms:
- are they on time?
- have they met expectations?
- are they instilling confidence in the future?
The inaugural report finds there are few tangible milestones to report in the first six months after the Commission’s report was handed down and provider confidence with the process is low.
CEO Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA), Paul Sadler, said, “The Royal Commission set out an urgent roadmap for reform of the broken aged care system but progress over the past six months has been disappointingly slow.
“Providers have significant concern that the reform process is too slow and lacks transparency. Every day of delay is a missed opportunity to offer someone the best quality of life and care possible as they age,” he said.
The survey responses showed confidence that consumer choice will be improved, allowing for better access to aged care that meets the needs of older people and their families. But the longstanding challenges of finding suitable people to work in aged care have been exacerbated by the pandemic and remain one of the biggest challenges.
CEO Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), Sean Rooney, said, “The challenge for aged care providers in finding skilled staff is now a genuine crisis. We need a commitment from government to fully resource providers to better reward our workforce and support training and career progression for those who want to work in aged care.
“The Royal Commission provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the broken aged care system and we need a skilled and experienced workforce to deliver on the potential for better aged care services,” he said.
Following the results of the inaugural scorecard, AACC is calling on the Federal Government for:
- a strategic response to the range of workforce issues;
- a consistent flow of information about reform implementation, including timeframes for consultations and progress against milestones; and
- genuine partnering with providers and other stakeholders to work towards a shared vision of high-quality aged care.