This comes as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese fronted the National Press Club, criticising the government’s handling COVID-19 in aged care and presenting an ‘eight point plan’ for the sector.
“None of what is going wrong just crept up on us. This Government was warned by experts that our already troubled aged care system was vulnerable to the pandemic,” he said.
Mr Albanese’s plan for the sector included the following eight points:
- Minimum staffing levels in residential aged care;
- Reduce the home care package waiting list so more people can stay in their homes for longer;
- Ensure transparency and accountability of funding to support high quality care;
- Independent measurement and public reporting as recommended by the Royal Commission this week;
- Ensure every residential aged care facility has adequate personal protective equipment;
- Better training for staff, including on infection control;
- A better surge workforce strategy; and
- Provide additional resources so the Aged Care Royal Commission can inquire specifically into COVID-19 across the sector while not impacting or delaying the handing down of the final report
Should aged care be restructured?
Mr Albanese was also asked whether he believed the sector should be restructured into a Not For Profit, and whether he would commit to this policy as Opposition Leader.
“What we will do is wait for the final report of the Royal Commission but what’s very clear is that once you moved from essentially a public system into the privatisation of a whole section of the sector, that needed to be accompanied by very strong regulation,” he replied.
“By strong inspection processes, by making sure that there was transparency, the sort of transparency that I have spoken about today that the Royal Commissioners have spoken about.”
“So we will come up with a more comprehensive long-term plan for aged care after the Royal Commission finalises its report at the beginning of next year.”
“But what is very clear is that the problems that have arisen, if you look at where they are, they are almost exclusively in the for-profit system at the moment. And that should tell the story about a failure to properly regulate the system, which is the Commonwealth’s responsibility.”
When probed again on whether sector reform was required, Albanese said:
“I believe the changes that will be required will include structural changes to the industry. I think that will undoubtedly be part of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.”
