No national agreement on aged care yet from COAG
While media reports on the Council of Australian Government (COAG) agreement between the Gillard Government and the states and territories say that reforms in aged care mean 5,000 more aged care beds, one-stop shops for people looking for aged care assessment, and a more robust scheme to deal with complaints about aged care services, these are all current Federal Government responsibility and policies and have been announced by the Government.
The COAG communique points to continued failure to agree on the reforms possible between State/Territory and the Commonwealth Government.
The communique points to further negotiations, and the continued refusal of Western Australia and Victoria to agree to the proposed handover of state controlled aged care services in the community care area. It states, under points 61-63, that:
- The parties agree to pursue further reforms in mental health, dental health and aged care over the next three years. The parties acknowledge that provision of greater growth funding by the Commonwealth (as set out in clause 4 above) will particularly benefit those areas of public hospital services where gaps continue, such as mental health.
- The parties agree that the Commonwealth will be the level of government with full funding, policy, management and delivery responsibility for a national aged care system.
- The parties (excluding Victoria and Western Australia) agree to the changes, as set out in the National Health and Hospital Network (NHHN ) Agreement, in roles and responsibilities for Home and Community Care aged care and disability services.
- a.Victoria and Western Australia, in consultation with relevant local government stakeholders, agree to work with the Commonwealth to consider potential changes in responsibilities for these services, for resolution before the next COAG meeting, noting the different model currently in operation and the importance of maintaining existing service delivery strengths in Victoria and Western Australia.
