Aged care researcher and advocate Dr Sarah Russell writes in The Guardian claims by politicians and providers that the majority of aged care homes are “world-class” as “spin on steroids” with no empirical evidence to support them.

She blames the Howard Government’s 1997 Aged Care Act for the current aged care ‘crisis’, saying “proactive initiatives” are the only way to prevent inadequate personal care, neglect, abuse and negligence of residents.

The self-starting founder of Aged Care Matters, she says the Act’s “disgracefully inadequate staffing requirements” will not be fixed by the Federal Government’s new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC).

“The only way to prevent failures is to ensure a sufficient number of trained staff are employed in aged care homes,” she says.

Dr Russell adds Minister Wyatt is “disingenuous” when he claims mandated ratios wouldn’t work in rural and remote communities.

“The aged care minister is surely aware of workforce strategies in other sectors (including education and health) to recruit and retain qualified staff in remote areas.”

Calling standards of care in aged care homes “a human rights issue”, she says the only option is for the government to rewrite the Aged Care Act from scratch.

No, what we need is more funding – now.

Dr Russell knows how to generate media but she is also capable of ‘balance’.

Check out this appearance on ‘The Project’ HERE.