New vision for aged care in SA

The not-for-profit aged care sector in South Australia has outlined a list of aged care policy suggestions to the state government in a new vision document.

The paper addresses concerns about 10 core areas, including the aged care workforce, healthcare, housing and community care, support for family carers and assistive technology.

The chief executive officer of Aged and Community Services SA & NT, Alan Graham, said the paper is a new direction for his association.

“Our primary focus is around aged care delivery and we are stressing in the vision document that this requires a whole-of-government approach,” said Mr Graham.

“But there are a lot of related issues that need to be addressed at the same time, like transport services and the design of amenities.”

The purpose of the vision document is to stimulate discussion among all members of parliament about meeting the needs of an ageing population.

The paper has been sent to South Australia’s parliamentarians and the association is currently requesting meetings with politicians to pursue the issues further.

“What we want to do is enter into a conversation about the issues we have raised in this document,” said Mr Graham.

“We want to take a proactive approach and say: Here are our views about what should be happening and we need to discuss them. We all need to start thinking about things that have been raised here.”

South Australia currently has the oldest population of all the states and territories, with 11% of the population aged 70 years and over.

“Historically, [this] state has a reputation for being innovative and creative in the social policy arena,” said Mr Graham.

“In our view, the ageing population provides an opportunity for [South Australia] to lead the nation in this important policy area.”