Brett Robinson said he took the CEO’s role at retirement village operator RetireAustralia to provide the standards of care his father never had.
“Dad was a brilliant man, a lawyer and later a vineyard operator, but he developed Parkinson’s and eventually we had to arrange aged care,” Dr Robinson said.
“The problem was it was well meaning care, but very clinical and hospital-based. He lost control and basically the will to live, dying six weeks later aged 81.”
Dr Robinson, who played 16 Tests for the Wallabies and was the inaugural captain of the ACT Brumbies in the Super 12 competition, said he owed it to his father to take the role in May 2019.
“The system did not look after dad the way he deserved or that was respectful,” said the father of four, who joined the largest private owner of retirement villages in Australia, after being CEO of healthcare bank BOQ Specialist.
“If I can change that for other people, I will be very proud.”
Governments need to connect on ageing population
Dr Robinson has issues with the aged care model in Australia, with the Federal Government funding aged care, while the states regulated retirement villages.
“In my opinion, the system is busted because of the disconnect between the levels of government, which means we don’t know how to look after people as they age,” he said.
“My personal purpose when I was growing up was always to be concerned about people’s well-being,” he said. “I have a deep stake in that.”
Dr Robinson said RetireAustralia, whose major shareholder is New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund Infratil, planned to expand the number of aged care communities from 28 to more than 40 over the next few years.
The focus would always be on allowing people to stay in places that were socially connected and felt like homes.
“The built environments of homes are very important for this, including wide rooms for wheelchairs and accessible light switches,” he said.
