Victoria to review private low-care facilities

The Victorian Government will hold a public review of laws for privately run, low-care aged care facilities because of growing concerns it is failing to protect 6,500 elderly and mentally ill Victorians.

Victorian Community Affairs Minister, Lisa Neville, said the government would examine the regulations that applied to 192 private homes or supported residential services. The checks would concentrate on the owners’ obligations to employ qualified staff, ensure homes were safe and clean, manage residents’ finances, and provide adequate care.

The Health Department has admitted bungling complaints abuse and neglect of residents of a supported residential service in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Mental health experts told The Age newspaper that failings in that area had been ignored for years.

Minister Neville said that the government “will be consulting with residents and family about what it is that we need to regulate and whether or not we need to shift the focus. It is important because they are vulnerable people”.