Why UnitingCare has changed its tune on individual contributions to the cost of aged care

But not all Australians have shared in the growth in wealth and financial security. Not all businesses have been able to cope in the changing international and national market environments. Farmers and rural communities have struggled with changing trade and market conditions, not to mention the vagaries of the weather through the longest drought in a century and then the worst floods in decades.

People with skills no longer in demand, living in communities with few industries and limited job opportunities or with low skills and poor education have been unable to find a place in the labour market. Some families have seen three generations of unemployment.

People entering retirement age who have little or no savings and do not own their own home are entitled to expect their needs will be met as they age. It is reasonable and fair to ensure everyone, regardless of their financial position, can access high quality aged care services through adequate and sustainable funding from the public purse.

That is why UnitingCare Australia is arguing both for people who are able to contribute to the costs of their care to do so, and for a strong and sustainable safety net that will ensure that everyone gets the care and support they need as they age.

But funding reform is only defensible if consumers, carers and families can have more options and more choice in what services they receive, where they are provided (at home, in via community services or facility-based) and by whom. Improving the diversity and supply of services is an essential quid pro quo for expecting consumers and tax payers to make a greater financial contribution to the costs of their accommodation and care.

The Productivity Commission has made a number of recommendations about removing restrictions on supply and promoting more diversity and choice in services available. These recommendations need to be implemented in the right sequence and via a well managed transition plan that ensures ongoing and adequate supply of high quality services in every community across Australia, especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable consumers and communities who have less “market-power”.

Australia is at a cross roads. The Productivity Commission has brought together our collective knowledge and drafted 42 recommendations for game changing reform. Will aged care advocates and our elected representatives find a way past their competing priorities and interests and put the interests of older people and the needs of a changing nation first in their mind as they make legislative and budget decisions?

We in the UnitingCare network are doing all we can to support our services, the wider sector and the Parliament to step up to the challenge of an ageing population and make the big decisions now that will ensure all older people and their families can age in comfort with hope and dignity.