Immense changes are planned for the care of the elderly one in 2025. But you will never learn from the main parties

There were few novel products in pre -election promises for Australian elderly employees, suppliers or 1.3 million people who apply the care of the elderly one.

In March, he announced a work party $ 2.6 billion For another escalate in payment for older nurses in addition to previous salary increases.

Since then, there was nothing significant for older care or opposition.

The main changes are scheduled for the sector this year, four years after condemnation Report of the Royal Committee on the care of the old. However, no additional funds were announced.

Estimates suggest that financing is compact About $ 5 billion deal with losses by housing providers or a shortage Home care packages.

What can we expect this year?

AND New care for the care of the old He will enter into force on July 1 with a much greater emphasis on the rights of the elderly to obtain care, which meets their needs. It will mean:

• novel elderly care regulation system

• A novel independent Commissioner for Complaints

• novel House support A program for the elderly who want to live at home and in the community

• Changes in residential care fees.

However, there are many problems and it is not clear whether the reforms introduced this year will fix them.

Access is still a problem

Access to elderly care it still is a problemEspecially in rural and distant areas. The system is complex to navigate in the case of often sensitive and confused consumers and their families.

The government is largely based on My website of old care To inform the elderly and their families about the Ancient Care options. But this only provides basic information and it is complex to get individualized support.

There is also a “digital division” for a significant group that is unknown and has no trust using online services.

So we need much more emphasis on providing local “One Stop Shops” for personalized support and advice, especially when people enter the elderly care system for the first time. These services can be provided by Centrelink or novel regional offices.

ABOUT One -third of the elderly Say they need support to live at home. But to get support, you need an older assessment and this process also requires improvement.

A waiting times for the evaluation I blew up, with delays to five months.

Older people prefer to stay home

There are some fears that the number of novel start beds is It didn’t grow fast enough. For example, there is a lack of housing care in individual areas, such as Canberra.

But the times of admission to housing care they have not increased and the occupancy rates are declining. This suggests the elderly I would prefer a house for housing care.

However, the increased demand for home care packages is not be met.

For those who need more intensive services at home, Waiting times Stay stubborn and unacceptably long because there is not enough home care packages.

Despite the years of complaints, there are still more than 80,000 people On the waiting list for care at home.

Up-to-date Home support program It will introduce an eight -level support system. The highest level of financing for home care will be Grow to USD 78,000 To fill the gap between home financing and housing. But you will need many more intense home care packages to shorten the waiting time.

The home support program also introduces much higher costs out of their own pocket for the elderly. Such costs of daily services – such as meals, cleaning and gardening – currently financed from the Home Commonwealth Will support program will increase significantly.

It will be the most controversial too Higher costs out of your own pocket In the case of “independence” services, including personal care, social support, foster care and therapy.

Personnel deficiencies are still a problem

For providers of care for the elderly, chronic labor deficiencies are still the biggest problem. The last escalate in wages for older employees, including nurses, is a step in the right direction. But wages are still low.

It is complex to attract staff, staff trading is high, and the staff is insufficiently trained, risking the quality of care. Deficiencies are particularly acute in rural areas.

. The care industry is required by the elderly Improved migration, better training and incentives for regional employees to supplement the deficiency. But no novel election ads have been issued so far.

Without real reform

Despite the changes that we will see since July, the organization and financing of the Ancient Care remains essentially unchanged.

In general, the Australian care system for the elderly is still heavily privatized and crushed. IN 2022-23 There were 923 home care suppliers, 764 housing providers and 1334 home service providers, almost all in the private and non-profit sectors.

Commonwealth still manages the sector through a troublesome combination of highly centralized regulations and order agreements.

He did not introduce an effective, regional management structure to plan, organize and rule the sector to escalate quality, innovation, equality, reaction and performance.

The community was also not ready to finance the system via a fee, social insurance or increased taxation program. Instead, it increases the user’s fees to cover the costs of providing services.