the Aged Care Today magazine featured articles

There is no question that implementing the Aged Care Act remains a herculean effort from providers, government and everyone working across the sector. For many organisations, implementation has been all-consuming. And understandably so. The scale of change has been unlike anything we’ve experienced before.

But implementation was never intended to be the destination. It is simply the beginning.

Despite the many challenges, one of the things that has encouraged me most in recent months is seeing reform continue to evolve after the legislation has come into effect.

No legislation is ever perfect from day one, least of all the new Aged Care Act. The real test is whether governments are prepared to listen, whether the sector continues to provide practical evidence and strong arguments for change, and whether the political will exists to ensure the system better serves older Australians.

I believe we’ve already seen the first signs of that happening.

Over recent months we’ve welcomed commitments to improve the Integrated Assessment Tool, including a new escalation pathway for complex cases and a process that allows assessment delegates to return assessments for amendment before they are approved – short circuiting the need for assessments that are clearly wrong to go through a lengthy and burdensome appeal and re-assessment process. These are not headline-grabbing reforms, but they are meaningful improvements that should lead to fairer outcomes for older people and things we and our members have been working hard to secure.

We also saw price caps in Support at Home postponed for at least 12 months, following evidence we, the sector, presented to the Government that they would risk making things even worse for older people.

Similarly, the Government’s decision to introduce legislative amendments, restoring consumer choice on accommodation payment arrangements, demonstrates that implementation doesn’t have to be rigid. When providers identify unintended consequences, sensible improvements can be made.

There has been positive progress through the Senate Inquiry into the future of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme. The Committee’s recommendations closely reflected many of the themes the sector has been advocating for: careful co-design, sustainable funding and a staged approach to reform. While a Senate Inquiry report does not automatically equate to adopted policy, it shows our messaging is getting through and that politicians on all sides are listening.

These examples clearly do not represent the end of the conversation. But together they demonstrate something important: evidence matters, collaboration matters, and constructive advocacy works.

That should give us confidence as we turn our attention to the next phase of reform. Because while implementation remains a priority, we also need to lift our gaze.

Australia’s population continues to age rapidly. Demand for care will continue to grow. Workforce shortages remain a significant challenge. Hospital discharge delays continue to place pressure across both the health and aged care systems. Questions about access, capacity, workforce, housing, dementia care, innovation, investment and financial sustainability are becoming more urgent each year.

These are challenges that require long-term thinking, genuine collaboration and a continuous focus on improving – our sector has shown its willingness to do exactly that.

Time and again, providers have demonstrated they are prepared not only to identify problems but also to bring forward practical solutions. Whether that’s sharing evidence from day-to-day operations, participating in consultation processes or working alongside government on implementation, our members continue to make an enormous contribution to shaping the future of aged care.

That spirit of collaboration will become even more important over the years ahead.

At Ageing Australia, our role is to continue bringing providers together, representing your experiences, and ensuring your voice helps shape the policy settings that will support older Australians well into the future.

We’ll continue working to improve implementation where it’s needed. But just as importantly, we’ll also continue leading conversations about the bigger issues that will define the next generation of aged care reform – from the future of home and community care, to workforce capability, investability, innovation, housing and creating a system that truly supports people throughout their ageing journey.

We will also champion initiatives that drive change and impact, such as:

• establishing the Ageing Australia Workforce Hub as a way of building capability, capacity and sustainability
• building useful data sets via a data roundtable series to support the case for planning and investments needed by the sector
• showcasing great innovation and impact and sharing how others can leverage lessons learnt.

The momentum we’ve created shouldn’t slow now. It should be the platform for the next generation of reform – one driven by the sector, with improvements that will not only strengthen providers, but ultimately deliver what matters most: better experiences and better outcomes for older Australians.