A new alliance between ACSA, LASA and the largest faith-based aged care providers has been established to fund a political campaign to encourage MPs to address the challenges facing aged care.
The collaboration has engaged Apollo Communications, led by Adam Connolly, former adviser to John Howard, to develop the campaign, “It’s time to care about aged care”.
The timing of its launch coincides with the release of the Royal Commission’s final report, due to be handed to the Government on 26 February. The report will be published once it has been tabled in Parliament.
The campaign targets 15 marginal seats within the top 30 electorates that have the highest percentage of constituents aged over 55.
Six of the marginal seats identified are currently held by Liberal MPs, including Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt, whose electorate, Flinders, is ranked 8 with 50.7 per cent of constituents aged over 55.
Scott Morrison announced two weeks ago that aged care will be one of his priorities this year.
According to a new report that underpins the political campaign, Australia devotes less than half of what comparable countries do to aged care (1.2 per cent vs 2.5 per cent of GDP). Denmark and Sweden allocate more than 4 per cent of GDP.
One of the key goals of the campaign is a commitment for additional funding for aged care, with an estimated $55 billion needed over the next 10 years to support an extra 88,000 residential aged care places.
The campaign has been funded by the collaboration, which comprises:
- Leading Age Services Australia (LASA);
- Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA);
- Anglicare Australia;
- Baptist Care Australia;
- Catholic Health Australia;
- and UnitingCare Australia.
To read the 60 page report that supports the campaign click here.
A couple of things worthy of mention.
One, Can the media pull up the governments duplicity please. The health minister and others said yesterday that they have contributed $8 billion in additional funds to “aged-care”. Get a break down of this money, residential care is the sector chronically underfunded and the money spent has gone to departmental changes, upgrade to websites, assessors, home care etcetera.. but nothing to Residential Care.
Two, actual residential care providers priorities does not include 88,000 new beds at all. Typically these associations are off the mark, facilities want funding restored to stop their homes from shutting. Homes are closing and hundreds are on the brink of insolvency and need this funding yesterday. The sector needs a 20% increase now, how do you expect a world class and improving sector when the Australian government spends less than half other countries do!
The federal government isn’t going to learn anything from the Royal Commission that the last 20 reports didn’t tell them. Their own ACFA reports have clearly told the government that the sector is in danger of collapse. Scott Morrison started the demise as treasurer and has continued as PM.