Federal Election 2013: Aged Care
The Salvation Army, as one of the largest not-for-profit social services providers in Australia, is a non-partisan organisation. We ask that all political parties during this election campaign consider our statements in relation to their social policies.
The Salvation Army provides extensive support and assistance to older people across Australia through many of our programs including emergency relief, housing and homelessness, and specific aged care services. Nationally, we run 22 aged care facilities, including eight retirement villages and more than 400 Home Care packages. One of our aged care facilities specifically provides for homeless people and several of our residential homes have a strong emphasis on accommodating and supporting people who are homeless or socially disadvantaged. In New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, our aged care services are provided under the banner of Aged Care Plus (www.agedcareplus.salvos.org.au).
The recent Aged Care legislation, ‘Living Longer, Living Better’, introduces major reforms to the aged care sector. The Salvation Army has focused its attention on reforms that will impact on our ability to provide optimum resident care, including homeless and socially disadvantaged individuals, and has welcomed the introduction of a new homelessness supplement as part of the new aged care guidelines.
General Issues for Consideration
It is crucial that the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) indexation keeps pace with the increasing cost to deliver care.
We welcome the positive elements of the reform package including:
- Dementia and severe behaviours supplement
- Veterans’ supplement
- Homelessness supplement
We are supportive of stimulating the labour market within aged care and incentives to grow the workforce by attracting high quality people into the sector.
We recognise a person’s right to individual choice to retain independence and a quality of life within their home environment and are therefore supportive of increased Home Care packages.
We support the changes to remove the distinction between high and low care for the purpose of attracting bonds and the requisite investment required to provide high quality care for an ageing population.
We seek to preserve and appreciate the significant role that the not-for-profit approved providers have (making up 60% of the aged care sector) in providing high quality, compassionate care to older Australians.
Homelessness Issues for consideration
Of the 105,237 people who were homeless on Census Night in August 2011, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) estimates that almost 15,000 people were aged 55 or over, amounting to 14 % of the total homeless population19.
There appears to be a growing trend in the increase in numbers of single elderly women who are homeless. These women have often experienced relationship breakdowns and have an interrupted work history with little superannuation. They are seriously impacted by the lack of affordable rental accommodation available to them.
There are only 16 facilities across Australia for elderly homeless people requiring residential care, which are recognised by government as specialist homeless aged care providers. These are services where more than 50% of residents are homeless and such services are entitled
to claim additional supplements to enable the additional costs of caring for homeless elderly people. These homeless facilities are predominantly in Melbourne (10), with other facilities based in Sydney (3), Perth (2) and South Australia (1) and provide a little over 700 beds in total. Whilst these existing beds have been a welcome addition to aged care facilities in Australia, there are clearly insufficient places for the numbers of elderly people who are homeless, and in some States and Territories there are no facilities at all.
There are also a number of issues relating to the provision of Home Care to elderly people who are homeless. The Salvation Army has repeatedly witnessed the transformation that can occur for an elderly homeless person who is provided with affordable accommodation and support. Positive efforts should continue to be made through the new guidelines for Home Care to ensure that the needs of this group of people are met.
Call for Action
The Salvation Army calls on all political parties to commit to the following:
- The continued preservation and appreciation of the significant role that not-for-profit approved providers have in providing high quality, compassionate care to older Australians;
- Ensuring that the ACFI indexation keeps pace with the increasing cost to deliver care;
- The continuation of the provision of an annual capital grant for the construction of specialist Aged Care Facilities;
- The examination and implementation of mechanisms which work to encourage Aged Care facilities across the country, and particularly in regional areas, to welcome homeless residents and clients into their programs and facilities;
- Ensuring that the access point to the Aged Care System is accessible to homeless people and those who are socially disadvantaged;
- The examination of and action on Home Care Provisions and their potential impact on people who are homeless; and
- The establishment of a mechanism which ensures that marginalised and homeless people are supported to make choices as a result of the Consumer Directed Care funding provisions under the ‘Living Longer, Living Better’ legislation.
19 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of population and Housing: Estimating homelessness (2011), h$p://abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/ Latestproducts/2049.0Main%20Features22011
Click here to read all of The Salvation Army’s statements for the Federal Election.
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