Aged care group supports Rudd summit
Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) which represents Australia’s not-for-profit aged care providers has welcomed the Prime Minister’s planned April Summit as “a perfect opportunity for community input to future policy in many areas”.
“One of the many important issues which needs to be considered by the Australia 2020 summit is the ageing of our population and its implications, particularly for the care of older people,” ACSA chief executive officer, Greg Mundy, said.
“Lifting aged care issues out of the cut and thrust of day-to-day partisan politics could be the ideal opportunity to address some of the longstanding issues.
“We do not yet have the policy settings right to ensure that we can care for our ageing population effectively, efficiently and with high quality services.
“The normal political process has not delivered the solutions we need to an ageing workforce, a flexible and client centred system of care and sustainable, quality services. Opening up these issues in a broader context could be just what’s required.
“How we pay for the care of an ageing population should be the subject of community debate,” he said.
“Ageing impacts on many areas of policy: health and social care, housing, the built environment, workforce and productivity. It should be a core consideration in the summit. Population ageing should a cause for celebration but also a prompt for preparation for the changes that it is bringing.”
