Making aged care ‘sexy’
Government support is needed to make the aged care industry “sexy”, according to Aged & Community Care Victoria (ACCV). The call for greater support was made late last week after an Australian Bureau of Statistics report showed the average age of residential aged care workers was on the rise.
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Government support is needed to make the aged care industry “sexy”, according to Aged & Community Care Victoria (ACCV).
The call for greater support was made late last week after an Australian Bureau of Statistics report showed the average age of residential aged care workers was on the rise (Click here to read that story).
ACCV chief executive, Gerard Mansour, released a statement last Thursday (22 September 2011) after the statistics were revealed and called on government support in order to help create a more “attractive” aged care sector.
While Mr Mansour said they were “thankful” to the long-serving and hard-working aged care staff, he explained the sector “must continue to attract a vibrant and young workforce to support the sustainability of the industry into the long-term”.
To service Australia’s ageing population, Mr Mansour said aged care needed to continue to meet the “massive demand years ahead”.
“We must be properly funded to address our workforce needs… older Australians will only receive the choice and access to aged care services they need if the aged care industry is viable and sustainable,” he claimed.
“This is an industry with so much potential and opportunity for young Australians,” Mr Mansour said. “Yet our industry continues to be hamstrung by current government policy that sees annual funding increases which cover only half our annual cost increases,” he continued.
According to Mr Mansour, the past decade has seen a decline of up to 20% in services provided to older Australians in their own home.
“That’s a reduction from an average of about seven hours to just more than five per week on average,” he explained.
By 2020, there will need to be 82,000 new aged care beds and more community care to cope with the “burgeoning population and rapidly increasing demand”, Mr Mansour claimed.
Leave a comment in the box below to tell us how Australia can make aged care ‘sexy’.
