Call for aged care to remain a priority post election

Aged care call after election result

Ageing Australia congratulates Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his election victory and calls on him to ensure aged care remains a priority of his government.

“We congratulate Prime Minster Albanese on winning the Federal Election and we look forward to continuing to work with his government on meaningful, well-designed reform,” Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson said.

Ageing Australia worked closely with the Labor Government and LNP opposition in the previous term of parliament to reach rare bipartisan support for a new Aged Care Act.

“The reform journey can only continue with this type of solidarity. Politicians of all persuasions put older Australians ahead of party politics to land these historic reforms, but the job has only just begun,” said Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson. Supporting transition to the new Act, addressing the workforce crisis and improving access for older Australians must be a national priority moving forward.”

Transition times remain a major concern for providers, on top of financial sustainability pressures.

“We fully support the introduction of the new Act and the charter of rights for older Australians, but the plain truth is providers simply won’t have enough time to implement all of the reforms by 1 July, with the real risk of creating mass confusion for older Australians and the sector as a whole. Both providers and older people need to get across the changes to the aged care system, however we don’t yet know what those final changes are and we still don’t have all the information we need to get on with the job. We have an opportunity to deliver these once in a generation reforms in a way that makes the lives of older people better – we cannot afford to squander it.”