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MPs should look at aged care too

The Prime Minister’s instruction to Labor MPs to visit schools and services for homeless people should be extended to aged care according to Greg Mundy, chief executive officer (CEO) of Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA).

Aged care was neglected by both of the major parties in the recent election, but the problems of increasing demand for care and insufficient resources to address them are not going to go away.

“There are lots of new MPs, and all parliamentarians, new and old, could benefit from seeing aged care services first hand,” Mr Mundy added.

“MPs should see the excellent work of aged care staff for themselves and talk to them about the impact of a decade of declining government funding in real terms.

“MPs should also experience the community care sector and see its efforts to help older people remain living at home. Resourcing has been even tighter in this sector and the services are spread far too thinly.

“Around one million people receive some form of help to stay at home but the sector has been starved of resources relative to the need for care.

“Parliamentarians should talk to CEOs and Boards about how they have had to put their nursing home capital projects on hold because the current combination of Government funding and user charges does not raise sufficient capital for the homes we will need next year and in the years after. A report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Aged Care Industry Council has conservatively estimated a shortfall of $5.5 billion in capital funding for nursing homes.

“Now is a good time for a genuinely fresh look at the issues facing the care of older people and a fresh approach to resolving them,” Mr Mundy concluded.

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