So how much is the initial disaster recovery funding outlay going to be in the New South Wales?

 

Since 22 February 2022 the NSW Perrottet Government has declared 45 Local Government Areas to be disaster areas and these are eligible for support through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Between 3-5 March 2022 NSW Office of Local Government has made $1 million direct transfers to each of the following 45 local councils affected by February-March 2022 flooding:

Armidale, Ballina, Bellingen, Byron, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Glen Innes Severn, Hornsby, Kempsey, Kyogle, Lismore, Nambucca, Port Macquarie/Hastings, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield, The Hills, Tweed, Bayside, Bega Valley, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Canterbury Bankstown, Central Coast, Eurobodalla, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Inner West, Kiama, Ku-Ring-Gai, Liverpool City, Mid Coast, Newcastle, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Ryde, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Sutherland, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly and Wollongong.

Premier of New South Wales Dominic Perrottet said the grants are part of a $434.7 million funding recovery package, co-founded by the Commonwealth and NSW governments, with more still to come.

On 9 March 2022 Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced:

• An additional two weekly disaster payments for the catastrophe zones in the Lismore, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley LGAs, automatically paid for those who have already claimed and received the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment, at the current rate of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child. These payments will be made from 15 and 22 March. The NRRA will also undertake assessment of possible additional LGAs that also meet the catastrophic impact assessment

• Support for Norco in northern NSW on a bespoke business support package, in partnership with the NSW Government, to help restore operations of this key business and employer

• $10 million to support the mental health of school-aged children in the Northern Rivers region affected by the recent flood event under the ‘Resilient Kids’ program

• $800,000 to extend the Regional Small Business Support Program to include small businesses impacted by the recent flood event in NSW and QLD for two RFCS regions, with a six month extension until 31 December 2022, as well as free and independent case managed financial counselling through the Rural Financial Counselling Service

• $5.4 million to boost existing legal assistance services operating within affected communities

• $25 million for emergency relief, food relief and financial counselling services

• Approximately $6.9 million in support payments of $10,000 to assist early childhood education and care (ECEC) services affected by the floods where they have been closed for more than seven days. More severely impacted services will also be able to apply for Community Child Care Fund Special Circumstances grants

• $7 million to expand the Commonwealth’s business recovery and resilience service, Strengthening Business, into at least 30 of the most flood affected regions of northern New South Wales (NSW) and south-eastern Queensland

• $31.2 million to deliver immediate and longer term local mental health support services for individuals, families, and communities impacted by the disaster and to support communities to recover and build resilience across the flood affected communities

• $4.7 million to ensure the immediate continuity of primary health care services for flood-impacted Australians

Additional new funding was announced on 10 March providing $551.7 million to support flood affected communities across New South Wales as part of the next round of Commonwealth and New South Wales Government funding. This additional funding will provide support to small businesses, primary producers, councils, households, and families hard hit by the devastating floods. 

Included in this funding round is $285.2 million for the new Temporary Housing Support package, which will support those on the Northern Rivers who cannot live in their homes while they’re being repaired or have lost their home entirely. 

It’s estimated that this could assist up to 25,000 households, and includes; 

• Immediate hotel accommodation, to provide accommodation for four nights, with flexibility to increase while people make interim arrangements

• Grants towards initial rental costs, from $6,000 for an individual up to $18,000 for a six person household 

• Utilising Mobile Motor Homes and Recreation Camps for medium term accommodation Extending the Temporary Dwelling Program, which allows people to stay on their land in a caravan or demountable, for example.

Jointly funded NSW & Federal grants of up to $75,000 for primary producers and up to $50,000 for small businesses and not for profit organisations devastated by flooding will also be extended to the additional 28 disaster declared LGAs, delivered by the Rural Assistance Authority and Service NSW.

There was no indication given as to where all these funds would be sourced and little information as to which federal government departments or agencies would be tasked with distribution.

Given that flood recovery funding from 2021 was still taking until early 2022 to be delivered, a firm timeline for delivery would go some way to reassuring communities in regional & rural New South Wales.

Though I fear that the weakening of Australia's universal welfare system including Medicare, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, disability insurance and age care services over the last nine years, when combined with the losses incurred during the 2019-20 East Coast Bushfire Season, the 2020 to 2022 SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic, the more frequent extreme adverse weather events and the February-March 2022 East Coast Floods, will mean that there will be many individuals and families who will never regain their former level of financial stability.

 

Is NSW Berejiklian Government walking back its 2019 election pledge to fix traffic congestion on the Bruxner Highway - at the Dawson St intersection - in favour of a short-term fix elsewhere?

 

In the lead up to the 2019 state election, the NSW Berejiklian Government committed $6 million to upgrade Ballina Road (Bruxner Highway) at Dawson Street in Lismore.

Echo NetDaily, 19 February 2019, excerpt from article:

L to R: RMS regional manager John Alexander, Nationals Lismore candidate Austin Curtin, roads minister Melinda Pavey and Nationals Lismore MP Thomas George at the roundabout.

Ms Pavey then moved on to Lismore where, together with retiring member Thomas George and Nationals candidate Austin Curtin she announced $6 million for the Dawson Street, Bruxner Highway intersection, replacing the existing roundabout with traffic lights.

Mrs Pavey said a concept plan for the new traffic signals had already been completed, which meant design work on the new traffic lights would start immediately.

‘Traffic lights will be coordinated with other signal sites in Lismore, providing the greatest level of efficiency and safety for all road users,’ Mrs Pavey said.

She added that, if returned, the government would start work on concept designs for the intersection immediately and community consultation would occur in the second half of 2019…..

Now, having lost the seat of Lismore to Labor at that 2019 state election, the Berejiklian Government appears to be walking away from its specific election promise:

Based on these investigations and the level of funding currently available, installing traffic signals at Molesworth Street intersection is considered the best short term solution to ease congestion and improve local access, connectivity and safety for pedestrians and cyclists. [my yellow highlighting]

This "solution" reduces parking availability for residents in the area, along with the removal of some mature trees within the road reserve. It does add traffic lights and new footpaths at this Molesworth Street intersection.

However, it is unclear just how enthusiastic the Lismore community is about this site change.

From the Office of  NSW Labor MLA for Lismore Janelle Saffin, media release, 9 July 2021:

Government changes tack on congestion-busting pledge

STATE MP Janelle Saffin is urging locals to give feedback to the NSW Government on significant changes it is making to its February 2019 election pledge to fix traffic congestion and improve safety on the Bruxner Highway in downtown Lismore.

Ms Saffin, who has been pressing the Government to release its plans for public comment, said people remember the election commitment to spend $6 million on traffic lights and improvements to the Bruxner Highway-Dawson Street intersection.

“Transport for NSW and Lismore City Council have carried out investigations and traffic modelling, and now the Transport recommendation is that this upgrade should occur at the Bruxner Highway-Molesworth Street intersection,” Ms Saffin said.

“I have been in a continued conversation with NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole’s office and Transport for NSW on this issue, and while it’s good that there is finally some movement, we, as a community of stakeholders, still need to be persuaded.

“All those residents living on the southern side of the highway, in the Girards Hill area, were very keen on the Dawson Street project, so they have to be convinced that Molesworth Street will provide the best long-term solution.”

Ms Saffin said she had lodged Questions on Notices to hold the Government to account on delivering its election commitment, and to highlight the congestion of this ‘gateway’ roundabout which copes with 25,000 motorists every day.

Minister Toole’s latest response from March 25 this year read: “Transport for NSW is developing a number of traffic, walking and cycling improvements within Lismore to improve safety and traffic efficiency, and walkability on the Bruxner Highway within the town centre.

“Transport for NSW will invite the community to comment on the proposed improvements shortly. The improvements include new traffic signals in the town centre, which are currently underway and due to be completed by the end of 2021,” Mr Toole answered.

Further information about the proposal, including a design layout, go to

https://nswroads.work/molesworthstreet

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Advocacy by NSW Member for Lismore & Northern Rivers Conservatorium’s Executive Director pays off for The Con as it receives a $227,000 State grant to make its heritage building more accessible for people with disabilities

Advocacy pays off for Northern Rivers Conservatorium

LISMORE MP Janelle Saffin’s strong advocacy over the past two years has paid off for the Northern Rivers Conservatorium with a $277,000 State grant to make its heritage building more accessible.

Ms Saffin welcomed Government MLC Ben Franklin’s announcement that the grant would fund a lift so that people with disabilities can access all three levels of the building in Lismore’s Central Business District.

“The Con came to me for help on several occasions and I made direct representations to NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, meeting with responsible policy advisers to explain the need, to ensure it stayed on the Government’s radar,” Ms Saffin said.

“The Conservatorium has a track record of successfully securing over $600,000 in funding to upgrade its teaching, administration and performance spaces, so I was confident this missing piece of infrastructure had a good chance of being funded.

“This much-needed project includes the installation of a lift, and upgrade of amenities and grounds to meet modern day accessibility standards.”

Ms Saffin paid tribute to the tenacity of the Northern Rivers Conservatorium’s Executive Director Anita Bellman and her dedicated staff.

“The Con plays a significant role in enhancing the educational, cultural and social vibrancy of the Northern Rivers community,” Ms Saffin said.

“Once completed, the lift project will allow for true inclusion and participation for all, and over time attract more members by aligning its physical spaces with the excellent education services it provides.”

Friday, 18 June 2021.

ENDS

The Morrison Government has found yet another way to turn the National Disability Insurance Scheme into a punitive horror story for participants

 

The National Disability Insurance Scheme, to be administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency, was introduced by the Gillard Labor Government on 1 July 2013 and, was originally allocated a funding stream of $19.3 billion over 7 years (inclusive of $7.1 billion in existing disability insurance funding) as well as the 0.5% increase in the Medicare Levy scheduled for 2014-15 onwards.

The federal and state governments share the total cost of the NDIS, with the federal government only being responsible for around half of the total cost once all the states and territories had joined the scheme. The final state joined in June 2018.

On 19 October 2017 the Australian Government Productivity Commission had stated: At full scheme, about 475 000 people with disability will receive individualised supports, at an estimated cost of $22 billion in the first year of full operation.

There has been no additional increase in the Medicare levy to fund NDIS, as shortly before the 2018–19 Budget, the Turnbull Coalition Government announced that it could ‘fully fund’ the NDIS without any increase.

That same year the Budget Papers revealed an est. $4.6 billion underspend on the NDIS – funds which then Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison credited against the national budget deficit.

In 2019-20 Budget Papers revealed another underspend of est. 3 billion and, again this underspend was used to reduce the national budget deficit.

By April 2021 the National Disability Insurance Scheme itself reported that more than 430,000 people across Australia benefiting from the NDIS and it appears that the federal government now expects that number to rise to 500,000 participants by 2023-24 - an increase of 45,000 people more than likely predominately individuals 65 years of age and older who are already falling within the remit of aged care funding. 

In the 2020-21 Budget Papers the Morrison Government allocated an additional $798.8 million over four years from 2020-21 towards what appears to be a restructuring of NDIS.

Presumably so that the following can be fully implemented…...

The Guardian, 15 May 2021.

The agency that runs the national disability insurance scheme is seeking to increase the number of people that “exit” the scheme and reduce overall spending on funding packages through a “targeted review of existing participant plans”, internal documents show.

Leaked documents last month revealed the agency had set up a Sustainability Action Taskforce (SAT) with the aim of slowing spending on participant plans and growth in participant numbers.

The National Disability Insurance Agency has refused to discuss the actions of the taskforce, which Labor and the Greens have dubbed a “razor gang”. But new documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws provide further insight into its aims.

The previously reported internal talking points, labelled “strictly not for external distribution”, stated the taskforce’s three aims were to “slow net growth in participant numbers”, “slow growth in spend per participant”, and “strengthen operational discipline”.

The new documents, however, reveal the attempt to slow the growth in participant numbers will come, in part, from a focus on an “increase [in] participant exits”.

Further, slowing spending on participants’ funding packages will be achieved in part by a “targeted review of existing participant plans”, the documents state.

Other objectives include a focus on “tighter planning principles”, “tighter policies on specific reasonable and necessary supports”, “tighter price controls”, and an “increased enforcement of assurance policies”.

The unit’s aims relate to internal decisions made by the agency’s planners and are separate to a wider overhaul scheme through the controversial introduction of independent assessments, or a rewriting of the NDIS Act that determines in law what can be funded and who can receive support.

It comes as the government faces a backlash from the disability community over its warning the scheme is increasingly unsustainable.

The goal of the so-called Sustainability Action Taskforce is to stop disabled people getting on and kicking off people who are already on Jordon Steele-John

Tuesday’s budget papers showed spending on the scheme would hit $28.1bn next financial year, up from a projected $25.4bn forecast for 2021-22 in last year’s October budget.

Costs are tipped to hit $33.3bn in 2024-25, an increase from predictions in a 2017 Productivity Commission report that estimated the figure would reach $30.6bn by then.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, and the NDIS minister, Linda Reynolds, have used these forecasts to claim a need for “hard discussions” about the sustainability of the current funding model.

Labor’s NDIS spokesman, Bill Shorten, said the new documents were “proof positive the Morrison government has no plan for Australians with disability except slash, slash, slash”.

“It is utterly unconscionable that vulnerable people are trying in good faith to get on the NDIS completely unaware there is a secret plan not to let them in,” he said…..

Read the full article here.

NSW Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin is urging eligible organisations to apply before 25 June 2021 for their share of the NSW Government’s $100-million Stronger Country Communities Fund Round 4.

From the office of NSW Labor MLA for Lismore, Janelle Saffin, 3 May 2021:

Apply for Stronger Country Communities Fund Round 4

STATE Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin is urging eligible organisations to apply for their share of the NSW Government’s $100-million Stronger Country Communities Fund Round 4.

Ms Saffin welcomed Round 4’s strong emphasis on increasing participation in women’s sport with $50 million dedicated to projects that enhance female sporting facilities and increase female participation in sport in regions like the Northern Rivers and the Northern Tablelands.

“The remaining $50 million in funding is available for other local community and sporting infrastructure, street beautification, and community programs and local events,” Ms Saffin said.

“Eligible applicants include local councils and joint organisations, non-government organisations, community organisations registered as incorporated associations and Local Aboriginal Land Councils.

“Local councils like Lismore City, Kyogle, Tenterfield and Tweed shires are encouraged to work with community groups to identify priority projects and should consider partnerships where council is the landowner.”

Ms Saffin said applications opened at the weekend (Saturday 1 May 2021) and close at 12pm on Friday, 25 June 2021, with projects assessed and approved by 20 August 2021. Successful project would be announced from September 2021.

Ms Saffin is keen to be briefed on projects and can provide letters of support if required.

More information on Stronger Country Communities Fund Round 4 is available from nsw.gov.au/SCCF or by contacting the Department of Regional NSW (DRNSW) – sccf.enquiries@regional.nsw.gov.au or 1300 679 673.

Under three previous funding rounds, the Fund has provided $400 million for 1500 projects across every regional Local Government Area across the State. 

Morrison government is facing growing backlash from the disability community over a plan to introduce “independent assessments” to the national disability insurance scheme by the middle of this year

These are the private assessors that the Morrison Government announced it has contracted eight companies to do ‘independent' assessments on people who are current participants or applying to enter into the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Having supplied little more than business names for these independent assessors, this is the scant information I have collected since reading The Guardian news article of 7 March 2021.

1. Outlook Matters Psychology, Innovative Rehab, Pain NT - business names for Victorian for profit company Outlook Matters Pty Ltd offering Therapeutic Supports and Early Intervention Supports for Early Childhood (deafness & mental health).

2. Konekt Limited – a company listed on the stock exchange has 9 for profit subsidiaries. Provides organisational health and risk management solutions. Its 4 directors have backgrounds in banking, accounting, marketing, financial services, health insurance and one was formerly a senior executive in Rupert Murdoch’s infamous London-based News International PLC and currently chairs a data centre company, NEXTDC Limited.

3. Rehab Management (Aust) Pty Ltd – occupational rehabilitation and corporate health services provider. One of 5 for profit subsidiaries belonging to Arriba Group Pty Ltd. It has offices in all states and territories

4. Access Care Network Australia Pty Ltd – registered as a charity this WA company provides advice, support and referral to enable people to remain living in their own homes.

5. IPAR Rehabilitation – for profit provider of injury prevention, occupational rehabilitation and return to work services in Australia, with offices in every state and territory.

6. Advanced Personnel Management (APM) – member of the multinational APM Group, acts as a for profit employment agency for people with illness, injury or disability.

7. HealthStrong Pty Ltd - a for profit residential aged care and home care provider owned by Australia’s second largest health insurance company Medicare Private Limited.

8. Allied Care Group – a subsidiary of Zenitas Healthcare Ltd, a for profit home care provider listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (formerly known as Zenitas Healthcare Limited, BGD Corporation Ltd, Boulder Steel Ltd, Boulder Group Nl, Boulder Gold N.L).

This panel will be in place for three years, with the option for the National Disability Agency (NDIA) to extend it for two more years.

BACKGROUND

The Guardian, 7 March 2021:

The Morrison government is facing growing backlash from the disability community over a plan to introduce “independent assessments” to the national disability insurance scheme by the middle of the year.

Under the current process, applicants submit evidence from experts, including their specialists, and these reports are evaluated by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

From mid-2021 they will undergo an “independent assessment” by an allied health professional employed by one of eight contracted providers paid by the government.

The changes have sparked widespread backlash, including from a coalition of 25 disability advocacy groups which this week called for the plan to be scrapped.

They said their clients had expressed “acute fears regarding the risks to their health, wellbeing and access to reasonable and necessary supports”.

Labor, the Greens, and the Liberal MP Russell Broadbent have also suggested the change is a cost-cutting exercise, a claim strongly denied by the government.

The government argues that people with disabilities and their families are now forced to spend money collecting reports from experts. This has meant outcomes have been inconsistent and too often based on where a person lives or their access to health professionals.

This week the NDIS minister, Stuart Robert, released data showing plans were worth more on average in more affluent electorates in Adelaide, compared with less wealthy areas.

The government says the assessments – which will be free of charge and last about three hours on average – will create an easier, “streamlined” process.

Yet some people who have already taken part in an independent assessment have been highly critical of the plan.

Aaron Carpenter, a 41-year-old who lives with autism and agreed to take part in the pilot program, told the Guardian the experience had been “dehumanising”.

When he applied for the scheme, Carpenter’s own clinical psychologist wrote a report outlining the functional impact of his disability.

He questioned why his independent assessment was instead conducted by a physiotherapist.

Carpenter said he was asked many “yes or no” questions with “no context” and was at one point asked to complete a “task”, which was to make a cup of tea.

The NDIA has told participants the assessments include questions “about your life and what matters to you, and ask to see how you approach some everyday tasks”, and will also include some “standardised assessment tools”.

Carpenter said: “There’s a level of trauma that comes with disability and it’s through being made to be like a dancing monkey.

“We almost have to tell our story every single time we see somebody. To do that with a complete stranger, over the course of an hour or two, cannot capture us at all.”

After the assessment was finished, Carpenter applied to the NDIA for a copy of the independent assessor’s report.

He was dismayed when he saw a section titled “self-harm” was listed as “not-applicable”.

“When I have a bit of a sensory meltdown, it’s not nice,” he said. “I will punch things, I’ll punch myself, I’ll pull my clothing off.

“Probably my biggest impairment is being able to manage sensory input to the point where I don’t have meltdowns.”

Nicole Rogerson’s 25-year-old son, Jack, also lives with autism and took part in the pilot.

Rogerson, the chief executive of Autism Awareness Australia, told Guardian Australia she had “open mind” and understood why the agency had proposed the changes.

But she was so dissatisfied by the process she cut her son’s assessment short.

“It’s just sort of, sit down, the laptop comes out, out comes a manual of questions, and the testing begins,” she said.

“Some of the questions were about his capability in certain areas. And he’d be sitting there saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I can do a lot.’ It was, ‘Do you do all your own cooking?’ and he’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I can cook.’ There’s a big difference between whether you can cook something and, ‘Can you live independently?’

“He was answering incorrectly, not meaning to. And she’s noting all this down. My concern was, how good are these assessors? Do they know about autism, and/or intellectual disability? Are these answers going to be considered ‘the answers’?”

Rogerson said her son had been asked to take the garbage out during the assessment and eventually she could see him “starting to feel really low about himself”.

She was worried about how the assessments might impact the mental health of some participants.

“She’s asking him, ‘How does your disability affect your job? And he’s saying, ‘Oh, no, I’ve got a job. I’m fine.’

“And he’s looking at me like, why is this woman asking him to rate his own disability, of which he doesn’t really like talking about or think he has one.”...

Critics have compared the independent assessments to Abbott government reforms introduced for the disability support pension, which helped drive a large reduction in successful claims.

Jordon Steele-John, a Greens senator who lives with cerebral palsy, claimed the government was using the assessments as “a tool to reduce the number of people on NDIS”.

“That is their objective,” he told the Guardian. “They may dress it up in whatever bureaucratic language they want, but they want to knock people off the scheme.”

Labor’s NDIS spokesman, Bill Shorten, told a rally last month the government’s independent assessments plan was “nothing less than a complete all-out assault to undermine the NDIS”.

A spokesperson for Robert said the changes were based on the Productivity Commission’s original design for the scheme and on recommendations from the 2019 Tune review into the NDIS Act.

He rejected suggestions there had been no consultation, adding that over the past three months there had been “additional consultation to support the rollout of independent assessments”.

“These reforms, in addition to the already significant improvements to wait times, deliver on this roadmap and will set up the NDIS for the future – an NDIS that works for everyone,” he said.

All new applicants will need to undergo a mandatory independent assessment under the government’s plan, while the scheme’s existing 440,400 participants will be subjected to an assessment when their plan comes up for review.

The government is expected to release draft legislation shortly, before a bill is introduced to parliament that will allow the changes to come into effect by mid-2021.

Royal Commission finds "the extent of substandard care in Australia’s aged care system is deeply concerning and unacceptable by any measure"

 

“We consider that the extent of substandard care in Australia’s aged care system is deeply concerning and unacceptable by any measure. We also consider that it is very difficult to measure precisely the extent of substandard care, and that this must change. Australians have a right to know how their aged care system is performing; their government has a responsibility to design and operate a system that tells them; and aged care providers have a responsibility to monitor, improve and be transparent about the care they provide. The extent of substandard care in Australia’s aged care system reflects both poor quality on the part of some aged care providers and fundamental systemic flaws with the way the Australian aged care system is designed and governed. People receiving aged care deserve better. The Australian community is entitled to expect better.”  [Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, A Summary of the Final Report, p.73]

Given the three volume interim report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was titled “Neglect”, the publication of the Final Report was not going to contain good news concerning the piecemeal approach taken by the federal government to what is now a predominately privatised health care sector.

Privatisation of the aged care sector has literally made millionaires of many founders and directors of residential aged care businesses.

According to a May 2019 Tax Justice Network – Australia and

Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability & Research (CICTAR) reportTax Justice Network – Australia and Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability & Research (CICTAR) report, Australia’s six largest family-owned aged care companies make a up a significant and growing portion of the aged care sector and they received over $711 million in annual federal funding to operate 130 facilities, with almost 12,000 beds. This was in addition to fees received from residents. While several of the largest family-owned aged care companies, owned by some of Australia’s richest families, have complex corporate structures, intertwined with trusts, that appear specifically designed to avoid tax.

The aged care system offers care under three main types of government subsidized service: Commonwealth Home Support Programme, Home Care Packages, permanent residential care and short-term respite care.

None of these service types have met the goals assigned to them under government policy and, the distressing examples of abuse and neglect which led to the creation of this Royal Commission have not disappeared as media reports during 2020 revealed [source source source source].

Regardless of whether a residential aged care business was privately-owned, corporate-owned or a not-for profit belonging to a religious institution, too many times in 2020 their individual residential aged care facilities were cited for a failure in one of all 8 of the Aged Care Quality Standards including those of concerning “consumer dignity and choice” and “personal care and clinical care”.

The Royal Commission’s Final Report Executive Summary tells us that:

The Aged Care Financing Authority reported that in 2018–19, there were over 3000 providers of aged care services. This included 873 residential aged care providers, 928 home care providers (as at 30 June 2019) and 1458 Commonwealth Home Support Programme providers.

However, a worryingly small percentage of the workforce employed by these 3,000 aged care services hold suitable qualifications. Out of the est. 366,000 paid workers only est. 15% had nursing qualifications or were accredited enrolled nurses in 2016.

The Final Report Executive Summary also tells us that:

In 2019–20, the Australian Government’s expenditure on aged care programs administered by the Department of Health was $21.2 billion. Older people are required to contribute to the costs of their care and accommodation if they can afford to do so through co-payments and means tested fees. People receiving aged care services contributed $5.6 billion to the cost of their aged care in 2018–19.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has projected that, over the next decade, Australian Government spending on aged care will increase by 4.0% a year, after correcting for inflation. This increase will mean that aged care spending will be growing significantly faster than the rate of all Australian Government spending (2.7%). By 2030–31, aged care will account for 5.0% of all Australian Government expenditure compared to 4.2% in 2018–19.

With the current Morrison Government having displayed a penchant for whittling down funding and services for the poor and vulnerable in our society, one would be foolish to suppose that Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison would do no more than throw a financial sop at deficiencies in the aged care system.

On the heels of the Final Report, Morrison immediately committed to spend a paltry$452m on the sector and announced a further $189.9m in “temporary financial support” without a requirement that residential aged care providers spend it on increasing staff numbers and/or providing more qualified staff – needs identifed within a number of the 148 recommendations in the Final Report.

The full final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is at https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

The Final Report Executive Summary opens at https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report-executive-summary

The preceding Interim Report is found at

https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/interim-report