New Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten announces user service audit of "myGov" website and a robodebt royal commission

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 June 2022:

Labor wants to end the “digital workhouse” approach to people trying to get government payments, with new minister Bill Shorten planning to turn using myGov from an often-frustrating experience into a seamless one.

Shorten is taking briefings on his new government services portfolio but wants to get moving immediately on a user service audit of myGov, the online entry portal into services such as Centrelink, Medicare and the Australian Taxation Office.

His ultimate aim is to make it “a much more seamless exercise” that doesn’t force people to spend hours of their own time applying for payments or updating details, the new minister said in an exclusive interview.

“They’ve created digital workhouses, basically. You know, workhouses were a 19th century place where the kind-hearted burghers of Victorian England and Australia said, ‘Well, if we’ve got to pay you for three meals a day, you can go and work in a workhouse,’” he said.

“And I think that we’ve used, in some cases, digital technology to create two classes of Australians.

“We haven’t privatised the service. We just privatise your time. You spend hours on it. I’m amazed there’s not more rage out there.”…..

Services Australia is effectively the delivery shop for a huge range of other portfolio areas, administering payments for everything from childcare subsidies and Medicare rebates to disaster relief and paid parental leave, along with the more traditional welfare payments such as pensions and JobSeeker…..

However, it has come under pressure in recent years for increasingly forcing people online to make those claims, with nearly 30 Centrelink or Services Australia shopfronts closing around the country, leaving 318 dedicated outlets. Shorten has previously said people seeking support and services must have the option to speak with real people, not merely be pushed onto a website or sit in an automated phone queue.

Another top priority for Shorten in his new role is launching a royal commission into robodebt as soon as possible…... 

As new Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten is looking to reform those elements of the scheme which are shortchanging people with disabilities

Brisbane Times, 3 June 2022:

Labor has vowed to crack down on providers overcharging for services claimed on the National Disability Insurance Scheme and to clear the backlog of thousands of legal appeals for funding, while delivering COVID-19 booster shots to people with disabilities.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said he was disturbed by the "twin pricing system" for services to people with disabilities and says restoring trust between scheme participants and senior bureaucrats was vital.

The National Disability Insurance Agency has come under fire for cutting the funding packages of disabled people as it faces rising costs. Shorten said it was an obscenity that there were 5000 appeals on NDIS packages before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal…..

"Under the last regime, we're spending more money on the process of fighting people for amounts which are less than the amount we're spending in the fight. How did we end up in that parallel universe?"

The number of appeals on NDIA decisions that make it to the AAT has more than doubled over the past year and legal costs are running at tens of millions of dollars.

The NDIS will cost almost $36 billion in 2022-23 and costs are forecast to keep increasing.

Shorten acknowledged the need to tackle the pricing of services charged to NDIS packages, saying it seemed to be a "black box" where providers come up with fees but "you don't know the magic of how they're coming to it".

"I'm disturbed at the twin-rate system or the dual system where if you don't have a package, you pay X dollars, if you do have an NDIS package, you get charged X plus $100. The scheme can't cross-subsidise everyone else," he said.

Making sure people with disabilities - both NDIS participants and those on disability support pensions - have quick access to their third and fourth COVID boosters is also a priority for the new minister…..

Shorten's longer-term goals include working with the states to improve support in schools, community mental health services, housing and bed block in hospitals as a way of tamping down NDIS costs.

But he said he was wary of any approach to the rising NDIS costs that suggested people with disabilities were the problem.

"I think there's been a level of incompetence and wastage. I think there's a breakdown in trust," Shorten said.

Australian Society 2022: Are Australia's frail aged ever going to receive the care, dignity and respect that is their right?

A dinner of chicken nuggets and chips at an aged care home
IMAGE: The Age, 1 March 2022] 

The federal government does not know how much of almost half-a-billion dollars it paid aged care providers to improve nutrition was spent on meals, as families report residents are still being served “disgusting” food. The $10 basic daily supplement was a key part of the government’s response to the Aged Care Royal Commission final report a year ago. It has so far handed over more than $460 million to about 2700 homes, without an effective system to ensure it is spent on food....The royal commission heard evidence that two-thirds of aged care residents were malnourished and recommended funding earmarked for food be lifted by $10 a day for each resident. [The Age, 1 March 2022]

Even though residential aged care has been increasing privatised for the last twenty-five years - until commercial delivery of residential aged care dominates what is now an industry - the Australian Government remains the primary funder and regulator of the aged care system. Thus it has many avenues to influence the quality of aged care.

The aged care sector has a troubled history and many older people fear being admitted to nursing homes once they become frail or chronically ill. There have been 18 inquiries and reviews of aged care in Australia since 1997.

The most recent investigation, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was established on 8 October 2018 and The Honourable Tony Pagone QC and Ms Lynelle Briggs AO were appointed Royal Commissioners.

The Commissioners' eight volume Final Report titled “Care, Dignity and Respect” was handed down on 26 February 2021 and made 148 detailed recommendations.

In May 2021 the Morrison Government on paper accepted roughly half the recommendations and, rejected outright or offered up a workaround of the other half.

Thus far it appears that only 16 aspects of those 148 Royal Commission recommendations have been acted upon by federal government and, at least one in a way which might not have been expected by the Commissioners.

One of the recommendations which was not readily agreed to and is yet to be acted on is:

Recommendation 87: Employment status and related labour standards as enforceable standards.

1. By 1 January 2022, the Australian Government should require as an ongoing condition of holding an approval to provide aged care services that

a. approved providers: have policies and procedures that preference the direct employment of workers engaged to provide personal care and nursing services on their behalf

b. where personal care or nursing work is contracted to another entity, that entity has policies and procedures that preference direct employment of workers for work performed under that contract.

2. From 1 January 2022, quality reviews conducted by the Quality Regulator must include assessing compliance with those policies and procedures and record the extent of use of independent contractors.

Almost two months past the Royal Commission deadline to demonstrate an increase in direct employment of those providing personal care and nursing care to aged care facility residents, the Australian Treasurer & Liberal MP for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg announces that Productivity Commission would undertake a study of employment models in aged care, and the effects that policies and procedures to preference the direct employment of aged care workers would have on the sector.

Thus kicking ensuring provision of adequate personal and nursing care for aged care residents, further down the road and past the May 2022 federal general election.

One might suspect from the wording of the directive to the Productivity Commission, that Mr. Frydenberg is less concerned about how nursing home staff are employed and more concerned that corporate owners of nursing homes retain their ability to pay low wages to much of their workforce.

Australian Productivity Commission, retrieved 1 March 2022:

Aged Care Employment

Terms of reference

I, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer, pursuant to Parts 2 and 4 of the Productivity Commission Act 1998, hereby request that the Productivity Commission (the Commission) undertake a Study to examine:

• employment models in aged care, and the effects that policies and procedures to preference the direct employment of aged care workers would have on the sector.

Background

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (the Royal Commission) was established on 8 October 2018 and the Final Report: Care, Dignity and Respect was released on 1 March 2021.

The Australian aged care system provides subsidised care and support to older people. It is a large and complex system that includes a range of programs and policies. In response to the Royal Commission there will be significant reform to the aged care system. These reforms will be underpinned by a new Aged Care Act, which is intended to commence from 1 July 2023, subject to parliamentary processes.

The Royal Commission noted a trend in recent years has been the increased use of ‘independent contractors’ in aged care.

The Royal Commission’s Final Report noted numerous submissions over the course of the Royal Commission inquiry had made the claim that quality care was more likely to be delivered by direct employees than by contractors. However, some stakeholders consider these subcontracting models deliver better consumer choice and flexibility, which is also desired by the sector.

Scope of the study

The Commission will undertake a study to examine employment models in aged care, and the effects that policies and procedures to preference the direct employment of aged care workers would have on the sector.

When examining these issues, the Commission should also consider recommendation 87, as well as submissions and evidence provided to, the Royal Commission.

In undertaking this Study, the Commission should:

• examine the extent of the aged care personal care and nursing workforce who are not directly employed by aged care providers

• taking into account the wide scope of duties within the aged care sector, ranging from low level care such as grocery shopping and gardening through to high level personal and medical care, examine how different employment arrangements might impact on:

• quality of care

• consumer choice

• job creation and availability of workforce

• employment conditions for the workforce

• worker preferences

• flexible and innovative models of care

• accountability of aged care providers for care delivered on their behalf

• costs of providing care

• viability of aged care providers

• explore any preconditions in personal care and nursing workforce supply that would be required prior to any potential policies and procedures to preference direct employment

• consider whether new policies and procedures would impact other care sectors, such as disability and childcare.

The Commission should support analysis with modelling using quantitative and qualitative data.

Process

The Commission should undertake broad consultation with consumers, the aged care workforce, unions and aged care providers.

The Commission could release a draft report in June 2022, and provide a final report to the Australian Government in September 2022.

The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP

Treasurer

[Received 23 February 2022]

There have been at least 451 Aboriginal deaths in police and prison custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody delivered its final report in 1991

During the period 1 January 1980 to 31 May 1989 there were 99 reported cases of Aboriginal deaths in custody in Australia falling within the jurisdiction of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

Between the final report of the Royal Commission in 1991 and 30 June 2019, at least another 451 Aboriginal people have died while in police or prison custody.

Current published statistical records do not yet include the period between 1 July 2019 to the present day.

The following historical information is divided in to two sections – deaths in police custody and deaths in prison custody

DEATHS IN POLICE CUSTODY

Between 1991 and 30 June 2019, a total of 156 of the Indigenous deaths were while the individuals were in police custody and custody-related operations.

In 2018–19 there were 24 deaths in police custody and custody-related operations according to the Australian Government’s Institute of Criminology Statistical Report 31.

Of these 6 deaths were in Western Australia, 5 deaths in each of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, 2 in South Australia and one in Tasmania. No deaths in police custody were recorded in the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory.

Sixteen of the 24 deaths occurring in police custody were categorised as category 1 deaths – that is they occurred during close police contact with the deceased, including deaths in police stations, and most police shootings and raids. The remaining 8 deaths were classified as category 2 deaths occurring during contact, such as foot pursuits or self-inflicted deaths in the presence of police after the commission of an offence.

Of the 24 deaths 4 were of Indigenous persons, 19 were of non-Indigenous persons and one person had no Indigenous status recorded.

Of these 4 deaths Indigenous deaths in police custody 3 were male and one was female and their median age was 22 years. One cause of death was listed as unknown, one was from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and 2 were recorded as accidental death as a result of other/multiple causes.

The Indigenous person whose cause of death was unknown died while police were in the process of detaining or attempting to detain this individual.

Of the 4 Indigenous deaths in police custody, 2 occurred in a public place, one on private property, and the other in a public hospital. The location of death for the individual whose Indigenous status was not recorded was a public place.

Of the four Indigenous persons who died in police custody, 2 were suspected of having committed theft-related offences, one was suspected of having committed a good order offence and, an suspected offence was not stated or unknown for the remaining Indigenous death. The 11 non-Indigenous persons who died in police custody in 2018-19 were most commonly suspected of having committed a violent offence.

This breakdown of suspected offences by persons dying in police custody has been similar over the last 30 years of statistical records.

In 2018-19 the death rate of Indigenous persons in police custody was 0.61 per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 10 years and over, compared with a death rate of non-Indigenous persons in police custody of 0.09 per 100,000 non-Indigenous population aged 10 years and over.

DEATHS IN PRISON CUSTODY

Between 1991 and 30 June 2019, there have been a total of 295 Indigenous deaths in prison custody, including in youth detention centres and during prisoner transfers.

In 2018–19 there were 89 deaths in prison custody. The largest number of deaths in prison custody occurred in New South Wales (33 persons), followed by Victoria (19 persons), Western Australia (15 persons), Queensland (11 persons), Northern Territory (3 persons) and Tasmania (2 persons). None of these six jurisdictions recorded a decease in the number of deaths. There were no deaths in prison custody in the Australian Capital Territory.

Of these 89 deaths 16 were Indigenous deaths in prison custody, accounting for 18 percent of all deaths in prison custody over that period.

All 16 of these deaths were Indigenous males, with 6 being 55 years of age or older, 8 being between 40 to 54 years of age and 2 between 25 to 39 years of age.

The highest number of Indigenous deaths in prison custody in that period occurred in Western Australia with 5 deaths, followed by New South Wales with 4 deaths, the Northern Territory with 3 deaths and Queensland with 2 deaths. No Indigenous deaths occurred in South Australia, Tasmania or the ACT.

The overall death rate in the prison population in 2018-19 was 0.21 per 100 prisoners. The death rate of Indigenous prisoners was 0.13 per 100 prisoners and 3.11 per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 18 years and over.

The cause of death was recorded for 13 of the 16 Indigenous deaths in prison custody, with 11 being listed as death due to natural causes, and one listed as death by hanging. The remaining cause of death was not specifically identified in Report 31.

A total of 4 Indigenous deaths in 2018-19 occurred in a prison cell and 7 occurred in a public hospital. The place of death is not identifiable for the remaining 5 individuals.

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

Australian Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements hands down its report - recognises role of climate change in natural disasters, value of Indigenous land management knowledge & need for a permanent sovereign aerial firefighting fleet based here

 

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements was established on 20 February 2020 in response to the extreme bushfire season of 2019-2020 which resulted in devastating loss of life, property and wildlife, and environmental destruction across the nation.

Those fires started in Australia’s hottest and driest year on record, with much of the 23 million hectares that burnt already impacted by drought and the Forest Fire Danger Index reading the highest since national records began.

The Royal Commission delivered its final report on 28 October 2020 and this was released on 30 October 2020.

In summary the report found:

3.1 Australia’s national arrangements for coordinating disaster management are complicated — there is a plethora of frameworks, plans, bodies, committees and stakeholders, with significant variation and different degrees of implementation.

National coordination, in relation to both operational and policy considerations, is necessary because disaster management is a shared responsibility in our federation.

3.2 Effective national coordination will be a critical capability in managing natural disasters on a national scale or with national consequences. Arrangements need to be clear, robust and accountable.

3.3 Existing arrangements have grown organically over time to fill a void, and have largely served Australia well. The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC), a not-for-profit company, has led on specific areas related to fire and emergency services. AFAC represents the Australian and New Zealand fire and

emergency services sector, and is primarily comprised of state and territory government fire and emergency services agencies.

3.4 National arrangements for coordinating disaster management require an overhaul so that they are equipped to cope with increasing disaster risks. Australia’s natural disaster arrangements and decision-making need to be supported by informed, strategic leadership, timely policy advice to elected officials, and a robust and accountable national coordination mechanism.

3.5 The changes to Australia’s national arrangements for coordinating disaster management that are contemplated in this chapter are substantive and structural. It has therefore been necessary to set out the current arrangements in detail. It is also necessary to do so because much of the detail was not on the public record.

The report also recognised what the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison federal government has long sought to either ignore or deny – climate change.

23. Extreme weather has already become more frequent and intense because of climate change; further global warming over the next 20 to 30 years is inevitable. Globally, temperatures will continue to rise, and Australia will have more hot days and fewer cool days. Sea levels are also projected to continue to rise. Tropical cyclones are projected to decrease in number, but increase in intensity. Floods and bushfires are expected to become more frequent and more intense. Catastrophic fire conditions may render traditional bushfire prediction models and firefighting techniques less effective.

It also recognised the significance of local knowledge and the need to engage further with Traditional Owners to explore the relationship between Indigenous land and fire management and natural disaster resilience. 

The report also made over eighty specific recommendations.

Most importantly to regions like North-East New South Wales where fire kicked off very early in the bushfire season and where we saw with our own eyes the value aerial firefighting capabilities in keeping fire out of our town and village streets, one of the recommendations contained these observations:

8.106 Australian, state and territory governments should work together to continue to improve Australia’s collective, Australian-based and operated, aerial firefighting capabilities. Though we see merit in the continued use of overseas-based aviation services and air crew in some instances, Australia’s current reliance represents a vulnerability, as demonstrated during the 2019-2020 bushfire season.

8.107 We define Australia’s sovereign aerial firefighting capability as the collective Australian-based aerial firefighting capabilities of the states and territories, supported by a national capability which is jointly funded by the Australian, state and territory governments. These capabilities should be maintained through procurement and contracting strategies that support the Australian-based aerial firefighting industry.

8.108 The development of a modest Australian-based and registered national fleet of VLAT/LAT aircraft and Type-1 helicopters, jointly funded by the Australian, state and territory governments, will enhance Australia’s bushfire resilience. A standing national fleet would ensure that the states and territories have the necessary resources to call upon during periods of high demand, without the need to reduce the operational capabilities of other jurisdictions. This standing fleet should also include situational awareness and support capabilities which may benefit from a nationally coordinated approach.

8.109 Australia’s sovereign aerial firefighting capability should be supported by ongoing research and evaluation to inform specific capability needs, and the most effective aerial firefighting strategies.

8.110 Australia’s sovereign aerial firefighting capability may be supplemented by overseas based aviation services, where additional capacity is forecast to be required and available. [my yellow highlighting]

Australian Royal Commission Into National Natural Disaster Arrangements - Report [Accessible] by clarencegirl on Scribd

Appendices to the final report can be found at 

https://www.scribd.com/document/482319789/Australian-Royal-Commission-Into-National-Natural-Disaster-Arrangements-Appendices-Accessible

The dramatic increase in COVID-19 deaths in Australia’s aged care homes begs the ethics around our treatment of people in aged care, says a UNSW expert

MediaNet Release, 24 September 2020:

Treating our elderly people ethically and with transparency

UNSW’s Richard Hugman says it is time to stop treating elderly people as objects, as the Royal Commission into Aged Care and Safety continues.

The dramatic increase in COVID-19 deaths in Australia’s aged care homes begs the ethics around our treatment of people in aged care, says a UNSW expert. In less than four months, deaths from COVID-19 in aged care have increased from 28 to 580, at the time of writing.

UNSW Emeritus Professor Richard Hugman, a social worker who specialises in the aged care professions, says Australia’s service provision needs to treat older people as human beings rather than objects.

"To use a similar ethos in caring for human beings that you would use in producing physical things for sale, I think is an unfortunate way to think about the world,” the former professor of social work at UNSW Arts & Social Sciences, says.

"The way policies are framed around running these [places], it is as if they are running a factory. I understand good management techniques are transferable across settings, but you also need to understand the content of what you're managing.”

Causes of the COVID outbreaks in aged care

A range of factors have been blamed for the outbreak of COVID-19 in care facilities, including a lack of training in the use of Personal Protective Equipment and supplies available for care staff.

Melbourne’s aged care homes have been the worst hit, with all but five of the 115 aged care homes affected by the virus in Victoria. St Basil’s recording 44 deaths, Epping Gardens 36 deceased and Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir with 21.

In Sydney, Newmarch House recorded the state’s highest death toll in aged care with 19 cases, including two residents who had COVID-19 when they died from other causes. And the numbers are growing.

Newmarch and St Basil’s had alarming numbers because they decided not to transfer patients to hospital, Prof. Hugman says.

"I haven't seen the detail, but the question I would be asking is, ‘were those homes actually using established infectious disease control methods?’” he says.

The decision not to transfer patients is exacerbated by the fact that today there are very few qualified nurses in nursing homes, Prof. Hugman says.

"Some nursing homes don't even actually have a nurse on duty at all times. If they’re looking after 100 people and they’ve got one nurse on duty to supervise other people, then they might have somebody who has a certificate from TAFE administering drugs and medications.

"Whereas in a hospital, someone would actually have to be a qualified nurse to be doing that.”

Care staff working across multiple sites during the pandemic have also reportedly been a likely source of COVID-19 transmission. Prof. Hugman says staff have to work between homes just to earn enough to survive on.

"It's not just in Victoria, despite what the government says. These are all reflections of the broader ethics of the social value that is placed on [ageing] people, so that they seem to be less well cared for than they could be otherwise.”

Early findings from the Royal Commission’s interim report

The Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (RCACQS) is looking at better financing models, including regulation of aged care providers, in its latest hearings expected to run until September 22.

It comes after a survey by the University of Queensland for RCACQS estimated it would cost $621 million per year to improve the quality of all aged care homes to better standards. In its October 2019interim report, the RCACQS’ scathing review stated that aged care is a “shocking tale of neglect” in Australia that fails to meet the needs of our elderly people.

Australia’s aged care sector is “unkind and uncaring” towards older people, it does not deliver uniformly safe and quality care and often neglects them, according to the interim report.

Prof. Hugman says while the Royal Commission creates an opportunity for people to speak up, the real challenge lies in the government’s response and how it then permeates into the wider society.

A lack of transparency

Prof. Hugman says there is a lack of transparency in how government funding is spent by management in aged care facilities in comparison to community-based social services where monitoring is stringent.

He says claims by some aged care homes, particularly those from the for-profit sector, that they have to spend less on staff relative to residents in order to cover their costs just doesn’t stack up.

"And those claims about non-profitability do not explain how or why the [aged care] for-profit sector remains [in operation],” he says.

For-profit aged care homes have reported more cases of COVID-19 than facilities operating on a not-for-profit framework, heightening concerns about staff numbers, training and supplies.

Raising the social value of elderly people

The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has since been set-up to coordinate efforts to stabilise any further COVID-19 outbreaks across the private and public aged care sectors, with an infection control officer now stationed in each facility.

And the Royal Commission is set to release its final report by 26 February 2021.

Prof. Hugman recommends the government respond to the Royal Commission by not only providing sufficient funding but by also ensuring older people are treated with dignity and care.

"[The government needs to] focus on improvements to the aged care sector that are not reflective of a sense that older people needing care are a burden on society,” Prof. Hugman says.

[Instead, they need to focus on the fact] that older people are part of society and that a good society is one that values all its members.”

Prof. Hugman also says there needs to be an emphasis placed on the expression of positive values about how to treat and view elderly people as human beings.

"Frankly, there are some places I've visited in the last few years, either because I've had friends or relatives who are living in them or I've gone to visit for professional reasons,” Prof. Hugman says.

And they’re places, “I wouldn't go anywhere near”.

Cartoon of the Month

David Pope

St. Patrick's College statement standing by its decision to revoke honours given to former student Cardinal George Arthur Pell

St Patrick’s College Statement on Royal Commission findings – May 7, 2020

Edmund Rice Education Australia, the St Patrick’s College Board, the Old Collegians Association and the executive of St Patrick’s College acknowledge today’s release of the full and unredacted findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – Case Study 28 and Case Study 35.

The important work of the Royal Commission provided the opportunity for many victims and survivors of abuse to have their stories told and their voices listened to, and for systemic historic failings across many organisations to be exposed.

It also provided the opportunity for reconciliation and for ongoing solidarity around the journey towards the hope of healing. St Patrick’s College remains unwaveringly committed to this course.

In 2019, the College revoked honours which it had previously bestowed upon Cardinal George Pell. This included renaming a building and removing his status as a Legend of the Old Collegians Association. St Patrick’s College stands by these decisions.

At all times the College’s highest priority is the welfare and wellbeing of our students. They remain at the very centre and heart of all we do.

See Parliament of Australia:

• Un-redacted Report of Case Study No. 28: Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat (PDF)
• 
  
• Un-redacted Report of Case Study No. 35: Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne (PDF)
• 
  
• Un-redacted Volume 16, Religious institutions Book 2 (PDF)