A group of seven major aged care organisations has joined together this week to issue an urgent appeal to the Federal Government for additional funding over the next six months – or risk aged care homes being forced to close their doors.
The groups – Aged & Community Services Australia, the Aged Care Guild, Anglicare Australia, Baptistcare Australia, Catholic Health Australia, Leading Age Services Australia and UnitingCare Australia – say the rescue package would work out as:
- $250 million-plus for home care (182 days at $10 per day for up to 150,000 people)
- $546 million for residential care (182 days at $15 per day for 200,000 people)
- $500 million pool of funds for information technology measures and training to reduce social isolation and loneliness
- Plus, a workforce fund, which will depend on the number of workers who need to self-isolate.
The groups say with the latest figures showing 56% of aged care homes are operating at a loss – rising to 71% in regional and remote areas – providers were already facing financial difficulty before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Providers tell us they are “burning cash” trying to meet the extra costs of supporting residents during the pandemic, with money being poured into providing lifestyle activities for residents, purchasing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff and meeting the costs of increased staffing.
In a statement, Aged Care Minister Senator Richard Colbeck has responded to the request, saying that the Government has already provided $545 million in specific funding for the sector to respond to COVID-19.
But providers say while some funding has been made available to help them retain staff, there has been little cash to cover the broader costs of infection control and combating social isolation for residents.
We agree that the funding boost is badly needed – aged care is an essential service that employs more than 360,000 people and cares for more than 1.3 million of our Mums and Dads.
But a longer-term funding solution is also needed to ensure the sector stays viable into the future.
Throughout the Royal Commission into Aged Care, providers have told the Commissioners that they have been doing the best it can under the current Government funding and regulations – but they can do so much more if they were allowed to.
We hope both the sector’s leaders and the Government can come to an agreement on how this can be achieved – to the benefit of all Australians.
