The Federal Government has announced it will invest $99.3 billion in aged care over the next five years, including $33 million to help rural and regional providers attract staff.
Sounds like a lot and it is – in fact it allows for about a five per cent increase each year.
But we are costing more. We are living longer with higher levels of declining health. We are expensive!
The only extra new funding? $3.1 million to “improve [the]system performance” of the Government’s own My Aged Care service.
It does need the help. A report last year found just one in five aged care providers considered the service to be helpful while over 50 per cent thought it was ineffective in reducing their workload.
Show me the money
Let’s not forget that aged care has suffered a series of funding cuts in recent years, with a huge $1.2 billion slashed from the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) last year.
In December last year, the Government released a “revised package” of funding measures that included increasing the payment made to rural and remote services.
But the cuts stayed – the savings were just redistributed.
We’re still no closer to a long-term funding strategy. We know the Government can do it – they have with the NDIS.
With the number of us aged over 65 set to more than double over the next 40 years, we can’t afford to wait much longer.
The reality is we will have to pay more ourselves and this is the conversation we need to have in the community.
Is it fair to have a big asset like the family home and not use it to fund compassion, dignity and quality care in our last years? The answer is inarguably yes.
