Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced any State or Territory will be allowed to set up an emergency response centre to deal with aged care outbreaks at their request – but none are opting to move to that level of response yet.
The funding will go towards a number of existing aged care responses including the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre (VARC) and the Commonwealth’s aged care COVID task force.
“Our investment in aged care throughout the pandemic is now over a billion dollars,” the Prime Minister said in Canberra.
“We’re going to be doing this for much longer.”
The funding includes $103.4 million for aged care preparedness measures, which includes “workforce measures” like paying for quarantine for interstate aged care staff, and a surge centre for call centre staff.
Another $50 million will go towards the staff retention bonus payment, $9 million to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and $9 million for the aged care emergency response hub in Victoria.
