The federal government will spend $452 million to fix Australia’s aged care system as part of a first step in responding to the royal commission into the sector.
The final report of the two-and-a-half-year federal inquiry was released on Monday and includes 148 recommendations.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the inquiry’s final report has set out a roadmap that will establish “generational change” in Australia’s aged care sector.
“Australians must be able to trust that their loved ones will be cared for appropriately and the community should have confidence in the system,” he told reporters.
The first recommendation in the final report is to create a new Aged Care Act, coming into force no later than July 2023, to ensure older Australians receive high-quality support and care.
Other recommendations include new laws to protect the rights of elderly Australians and increased regulator powers.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said $18 million would go towards tougher oversight of the government's home care packages, which allow older Australians to continue living at home with extra support.
Some $32 million will go to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and more regulation on the use of restraints in care. Nearly $190 million will go to residential care providers and $90 million is set to create a fund to help facilities facing financial challenges.
'Weak and ineffective'
Commissioners Tony Pagone QC and Lynelle Briggs wrote in the final report the current aged care system and its “weak and ineffective regulatory arrangements did not arise by accident”.
“The move to ritualistic regulation was a natural consequence of the government’s desire to restrain expenditure in aged care,” they wrote.
“In essence, having not provided enough funding for good quality care, the regulatory arrangements could only pay lip service to the requirement that the care that was provided be of high quality.”
The pair offered differing recommendations on some aspects of reforms, something Mr Morrison said “highlights the complexity of [the] problem”.
The royal commission was told countless tales of abuse and neglect across two years of hearings, with its 2019 interim paper urging a complete overhaul of a "woefully inadequate" system.
It found there was an overuse of drugs to "restrain" aged care residents, while younger people with disabilities were stuck in aged care.
Pay and conditions for staff were poor, workloads were heavy and severe difficulties existed in recruitment and retention, it also noted.
The sector, which is predominantly funded by the Commonwealth, has come under increased scrutiny during the pandemic with hundreds of aged care residents dying from COVID-19.
Mr Morrison said a more comprehensive response will come in the next federal budget.
With AAP.
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