The newly announced Aged and Community Care Providers Association (AACPA) will face a baptism of fire when it officially commences operations on 1 July this year.
The decision of ACSA and LASA members to vote in favour of the amalgamation – 10 years after a previous attempt to bring together the two organisations was stymied – has been largely welcomed by the sector.
The fragmented nature of the peak bodies – even when working together – has been seen as a challenge to presenting a united voice to the Government.
Those days now appear to be at an end.
Among the aims of the new body, the organisation has pledged to advocate on behalf of members in a “unified voice to Government”.
At the same time, the Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) – which includes ACSA, Anglicare Australia, Baptist Care Australia, Catholic Health Australia, LASA and UnitingCare Australia (UCA) – has promised it will step into the background.
But the new peak body will face a tough test from the outset.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is now examining the work value case brought by the unions with the expectation that it will increase wages for aged care workers – and the new Government will need to foot the bill.
Residential and home care operators are also facing a series of regulatory reforms that will impact on their compliance burdens and ongoing financial viability.
We hear of one operator that has done the sums on the latest Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) and determined that there is no possibility that the AN-ACC will deliver the required funding to meet its staffing and care costs.
Its estimated financial loss will be at least $500,000 a year.
Finally, there is a one-off window for the sector to re-start the conversation on co-contributions from those aged care recipients who can afford to pay – which would help to increase funding to the sector for a Government with a massive national debt.
All of these issues will require strong advocacy from the sector.
The question is: who will be the new CEO to lead this push?
