News Corp Australia has operators in its cross hairs with the Aged Care 360 campaign, launched in the media company’s major mastheads yesterday.
The investigation will run from Wednesday to Friday this week a round table TV discussion hosted by Sky News’ Peter Stefanovic and News Corp’s Health Correspondent Sue Dunlevy.
Also appearing will be:
- Professor Joseph Ibrahim
Head of Health law and Ageing Research Unit at Monash Univeristy - Carol Bennett
CEO of Pain Australia and former head Alzheimer’s Australia - Annie Butler
Federal Secretary of Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation - Sean Rooney
Chief Executive of Leading Age Services Australia - Jason Ward
Principal Analyst, Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability & Research (CICTAR) - Julie Collins
Opposition Spokeswoman on Ageing - Anthony Bowe
Mother resides in Newmarch House.
Scrutiny from forensic accountants
The investigation led with a heavy focus on funding, with The Daily Telegraph’s report suggesting providers are “coy” on providing detail regarding where taxpayer money is spent.
The report included a quote from CICTAR’s Jason Ward who said, “Several of the largest family-owned aged care companies, owned by some of Australia’s richest families, have complex corporate structures, intertwined with trusts. Despite receiving an average of nearly $60,000 per year per resident there is very limited public information available on these companies.”
Several providers were mentioned included Japara, Arcare and UnitingCare Australia.
Tricare director Peter O’Shea told News Corp more than 90 per cent of the operator’s revenue is spent on day-to-day costs.
“Staffing costs comprise approximately 75 per cent of the operating costs. Food, medical and resident supplies, electricity, building maintenance etc. comprise the other 25 per cent,” Mr O’Shea said.
“Of the surplus made from aged care each year, at least 80-90 per cent is re-invested back into aged care residences in the form of building refurbishment and construction of new buildings.”
