CHA supports Aged Care Act and suggests improvements
October 28, 2024Our Position – Voluntary Assisted Dying
October 29, 2024
Executive summary
Catholic Health Australia (CHA) is Australia’s largest non-government grouping of health, community,and aged care services accounting for approximately 12 per cent of aged care facilities across Australia, in addition to around 20 per cent of care provision in the home. Catholic aged care providers have a vital interest in working with the Australian Government to ensure the sustainable provision of aged care and support services for older Australians meet community expectations of safe and quality of care.
CHA appreciates the opportunity to provide input into the Senate Inquiry (Inquiry) process for the new Aged Care Act (the Act). We look forward to working with the Senate Committee during the Inquiry process to ensure the new Act achieves its intended outcomes. Our goal is to ensure it fully supports a high-quality and safe aged care system for all Australians irrespective of their wealth or geography.
Overall CHA is supportive of the Bill, the rights-based approach and the broader reform agenda of Government. A new Act is essential to address the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and lays the foundation for a better quality and more sustainable aged
care system that older Australians deserve. The reform will ensure all older Australians can access quality care, whether they live in major cities, regional towns or rural areas. With half of aged care homes operating at a loss,1 funding reform is critical for providers to meet costs, as well as upgrade facilities, innovate and invest in new models of care as our population ages. CHA appreciates the work undertaken by Government and the Department to address concerns raised by sector stakeholders on the Exposure Draft. CHA also thanks the Government and the Opposition for putting the national interest first and coming to an agreement on essential funding reform. In the main, CHA is supportive of the contents of the Bill. This submission focuses on some of the remaining concerns of our members. Some of these issues relate to the Bill itself and therefore will support the Senate Committee process. Other issues raised in this submission relate to potential unintended consequences posed by new policy settings or missing detail that will need to be included in subordinate legislation. These issues have been identified to support the drafting process of the subordinate legislation and the design of implementation activities. While recommendations have been made to strengthen the Bill and support drafting of subordinate legislation, CHA strongly supports the passage of this Bill as an urgent priority for 2024. Key observations and issues related to the Bill articulated in our submission include:
1. Statement of Rights: CHA is supportive of the rights-based approach adopted under the new legislation and appreciates the changes made by Government to recognise the rights of aged care staff.
2. Support at Home: The Support at Home program is a much-needed reform and will be transformational for the aged care system in supporting older Australians to age in place.
3. Systems access: Older people should have visibility and be able to understand the timeframes they can expect when accessing the aged care system and making a complaint.
4. Funding reform: Funding reform will return the sector to a more sustainable footing for the time being, but important details will be contained in subordinate legislation, and more is likely to be required to encourage investment and growth to meet the needs of an ageing population.
5. Code of Conduct: Offence provisions for aged care workers under the Code of Conduct are inappropriate and could present risks to workforce attrition in a sector which is already facing significant workforce shortages.
6. Whistleblower protections: Strong whistleblower protections will support people to speak up but must be received by those that have the capacity and capability to respond appropriately to disclosures.
7. Statutory duties: While amendments have been made to the scope of persons holding a statutory duty, the definition remains too broad and captures operational staff who are unlikely to make or participate in decisions that affect the provider. This could impact the ability of providers to recruit and retain well-qualified and skilled individuals.
The implementation and subordinate legislation observations and issues include:
1. Equitable access for vulnerable or marginalised groups: It is essential to monitor implementation for any unintended consequences for vulnerable and marginalised people to ensure access is equitable, and any issues are addressed as quickly as possible.
2. Risks and unintended consequences of Support at Home: Elements of the design of the Support at Home program present risks to the overall intent of the reform, and these risks need to be effectively managed.
3. Supported decision making arrangements: The new arrangements, if well designed, will empower older people to make decisions about their care and support. However, policy issues remain which could have adverse consequences for older people, their supported decision makers, and aged care providers.
4. Transition timing and implementation support: Implementing the Bill will require significant resourcing and investment by Government and providers. Implementation must be managed carefully, with adequate time and resources provided to support adoption.
