Sector “sleepwalking into the future”: Tom Symondson at 2026 LEADERS SUMMIT
Designed three decades ago, Australia’s aged care sector must now confront a new set of challenges, according to the CEO of Ageing Australia.
Following on from presentations by St Vincent’s Health Australia CEO Chris Blake and CBA Chief Economist Luke Yeaman on Day 1 of the LEADERS SUMMIT, Tom Symondson said the 2025 reforms have delivered certainty for the sector, but not created a better future for ageing Australians.
He highlighted care minutes, dignity of risk, and long wait times for Support at Home as areas that remain problematic for the sector, even after the reforms.
In a system designed 30 years ago, Tom argued that rather than “sleepwalking into the future”, the sector must ask some challenging questions.
“We have to decide what the future should look like based on what the community wants it to look like,” Tom said.
“We have to actually challenge the community as to what they think the taxpayer should pay for and what we as service providers should look like.
“We need to deal with issues such as the inherent ageism [in the aged care system].”
Ageing Australia is due to publish a ‘Continuing of Ageing 2050’ paper this year, detailing its vision for the future.
