Nursing home sprinklers could cost $160m

9 Feb 2012, 6:54 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The NSW aged-care industry says it will need the financial support of government to pay for the retrofitting of sprinklers in all homes.

The cost of retrofitting NSW's aged-care facilities with sprinklers could cost up to $160 million and would need the financial backing of the federal and state governments, the industry says.

A Fire and Rescue NSW audit found that only 264 of the state's 900 aged-care homes have a sprinkler system, prompting renewed debate about whether facilities should be retrofitted.

The information was collected for the NSW Government as it considers its response to a fire in November which killed 11 people at the Quakers Hill nursing home in Sydney.

The chief executive of the Aged Care Association Australia (NSW), Charles Wurf, said to retrofit sprinklers in more than 600 facilities would cost between $140 million and $160 million - an unaffordable figure for the aged-care sector.

"You're talking about a major capital works investment," Mr Wurf told AAP.

"If society, through our regulatory framework, thinks that's the right level we should move to for fire safety, then we need to consider who is going to make that public investment, because we don't have the funds.

"We would say the federal government, the NSW government, working with the industry (should contribute funding)."

Planning Minister Brad Hazzard on Thursday refused to say if sprinkler systems would become mandatory in NSW, as a result of the rethink forced by the Quakers Hill fire.

"If it was that easy I would give you a quick answer," Mr Hazzard told ABC Radio, adding that when sprinkler systems became mandatory in Queensland some facilities were forced to close.

"We want that balance so we are not getting residents effectively put out of their accommodation.

"The problem is some of the sectors are delivered by the profit groups, some are delivered by government and some are delivered by the not-for-profit sector."

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