About one in four Australians in the aged care target population live in rural or remote communities, the Australian Institute of Health And Welfare aged care data shows.
As well as mainstream aged care services, other, flexible, aged-care programs (including the Multi-Purpose Services (MPS) Program and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program) play important roles in providing access to aged care to these communities. But as with the majority of the aged care sector across Australia, the financial viability of existing and future providers in rural and remote areas is a serious concern.
While some may be small enough to receive government funding, many do not. This places people’s future aged care options – including residential and home care services – at risk.
In this context, the recent federal budget announcement to establish an aged care sustainability task force to review aged care funding arrangements and develop options to make the system fair and equitable for all Australians is welcomed by the industry and consumers alike.
Tom Symondson, CEO of the Aged & Community Care Providers Association, says the taskforce would progress an important conversation about the sustainability of the sector, ensuring that the funding required to provide quality aged care services is available.
Among the options to be considered is the potential for increased consumer contributions from those who can afford to pay more. In addition, he says, an aged care levy much like the Medicare levy is another option to be discussed for raising additional funding.
The taskforce will also inform the final design of the Support at Home program where the start date has been postponed until July 1, 2025, in response to feedback and to allow time to further refine the format.
A July 2025 start date will also ensure aged care service providers are prepared for the change, avoiding disruptions to continuity of care for older people, the government says.
Grant arrangements for the Commonwealth Home Support Programme will be extended for a further 12 months to June 30, 2025.
Reductions in overall funding over the past decade and the pandemic have meant more than 70 per cent of residential aged care providers are consistently operating at a loss with no end in sight to the funding dilemma, says Symondson.
Meanwhile, consumer expectations about what their living arrangements should look like as they age are rising.
In recognition of the “shocking inequity” that has seen providers of culturally safe care for First Nations elders receiving less funding per resident than mainstream providers, the budget included an extra $52.1 million to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program.
The budget also provided $7.6 million to build the capacity of Aboriginal-controlled organisations to deliver aged care services so that First Nations elders will continue to receive the care they need on country.
Symondson says the government should do whatever it takes to keep aged care services in rural and remote communities operating.
Without them people can’t age in their communities and ultimately that is what we all want, he says.
Meanwhile, the community of Winton might get inspiration from the tenacity of the community in the Northern Territory’s north-east Arnhem Land township of Nhulunbuy, Yutjuwala Djiwar. After 20 years, it has an aged care service which is largely funded by the federal government.
The 32-bed home, which offers culturally safe and appropriate aged and palliative care services, was opened in late 2022 following years of community outreach and consultation. The effort to secure the funding was spearheaded by a Yolngu elder and widely supported by the community.
Managed by the Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation with assistance from Uniting Care’s Australian Regional and Remote Community Services, services delivered by the facility essentially stops people having to travel 1042 kilometres to Darwin or 1800 kilometres to Alice Springs.
For all of us, the option of being able to grow old near home and family in an appropriate setting is the least we should expect.
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