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

Rental housing is becoming beyond the reach of locals in 2021

ABC News, 1 March 2021:

After years of supporting others to find secure accommodation, Cherie Bromley never imagined she would find herself on the receiving end of the housing crisis on the far north coast of New South Wales.

Key points:

Valuable members of regional communities are being forced out of the area due to a shortage of affordable rental properties

A woman who applied for rental properties says she was told the successful applicants offered to pay $100 more than the advertised price

The head of a homeless support group says many of her own staff are struggling to find accommodation for themselves

"I didn't even approach the real estates because I just knew there was nothing out there," she said.

For the past decade, Ms Bromley has been working for the Byron Community Centre, which provides a number of services, including support for the town's homeless population.

The Byron Bay resident of 29 years said she began the search for a home when the lease on her share house ended late last year, thrusting her into a rental market with a vacancy rate close to zero.

"This is the worst it's ever been," she said.

"There is no housing stock that is affordable."

Ms Bromley said she was extremely fortunate to have a good network of friends who were able to find her and her 14-year-old daughter temporary accommodation.

"I'm sleeping in the kitchen area [and] I gave my daughter the bedroom, but I have to pass through her bedroom to go to the bathroom," she said.

"It's not sustainable long-term."

Cherie Bromley is sharing a one-bedroom unit with her teenage daughter.
(ABC North Coast: Leah White)

'Catastrophic proportions'

The term "traumatic experience" is not one Ballina solicitor Sadie Hunt thought she would ever use to describe trying to secure a rental property in regional NSW.

After all, she works in conveyancing, has a regular and respectable income, and has contacts in the local real estate industry — how hard could it be?

"I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting a rental property, but I was rejected from all the properties I applied for," Ms Hunt said.

"I was basically told that if you weren't a DINK (double income, no kids) … you just had zero chance of getting a rental property."

Ms Hunt said she sold her Lennox Head property in November 2020 and gave herself a five-week settlement period to find a new place.

But she said even the first hurdle into the rental market — property viewings — proved challenging.

"You get sent an email and if you don't respond to that email within two minutes those little 4-minute appointment slots are all filled," Ms Hunt said.

"You turn up and there's 30 to 50 people there … that you're essentially competing with to get a home for you and your family to live in."

Ms Hunt said she was able to find a private rental at the eleventh hour but was knocked back for the three rentals she applied for through real estate agents.

She said that the real estate agents later informed her that, in at least two of the homes she missed out on, other prospective tenants had offered higher rental payments to secure the properties…...

Right now a three bedroom house rental in Yamba is likely to cost between 35% and 50% of the 2020-21 middle tier median annual income of $67,000 in regional New South Wales. In Ballina a three bedroom rental is likely to take between 35% to 61% out of that same income if suitable housing stock is available. While renting a three bedroom home in Tweed Heads would reduce that median annual income by between 43% to 56% and, in Lismore such a rental would likely subtract between 34% to 43% from that $67,000 if there was suitable housing stock available.

A single parent raising a child on an annual Centrelink payment of $21,920 from March 2021 who is attempting to secure private rental of even a one-bedroom unit between Clarence Valley and the NSW-Qld border faces a daunting task.

Autumn in north-east NSW is likely to be wetter and warmer than usual - so mosquitoes may continue to be a nuisance and a health risk for the next 2-3 months

IMAGE: ABC News 28 March 2019

Rain was a constant feature in coastal north-east NSW last month.

Up to 27 February 2021 Yamba had recorded 242.2mm, Evans Head 296.8mm, Ballina 329.2mm, Cape Byron 247.4mm and Murwillumbah 299.4mm.

Autumn which begins on today, 1 March, is expected to bring more rain through to May.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 25 February 2021:

Autumn is likely to be wetter than average across Arnhem Land in the NT, southern and eastern Queensland, most of NSW, eastern SA, and eastern Tasmania. Chances greater than 70% are generally confined to small pockets of southern Queensland and north-east NSW.

Along with the rain Autumn is likely to be warm, with north-east NSW having a 60-70 per cent chance of exceeding median maximum and minimum temperatures.

This combination of a wetter and warmer March (beginning with median maximum temperatures on the coast from Clarence to the Tweed expected to be between 27-28 degrees Celsius) will likely see mosquitos remain active in our region, so locals need to remember to apply mosquito repellent when outdoors even though Summer has ended.

The incidence of aboroviral diseases, and Ross River Fever in particular, have been increasing since 2020.

ABC News, excerpt, 16 February 2021:

NSW Health says symptoms of Ross River infection include fever, rash and joint pains, and that prevention relies on avoiding mosquito bites.

"The majority of people recover completely in a few weeks. Others may experience symptoms such as joint pain and tiredness for many months."

Official figures show many regions experienced their worst year on record for the virus.

There were more than 640 cases in the Hunter-New England Local Health District, its highest number in the past 30 years.

About 400 cases were identified in the northern and mid north coast regions — the 30-year average for the Northern NSW Health District is 135 cases a year.

Cameron Webb, a researcher for NSW Health Pathology, said mosquito numbers exploded after heavy rain in February 2020.

"But it's incredibly difficult to predict ... even though you do get more cases of the disease when there are more mosquitoes about, it's a bit more complicated than that," Dr Webb said.

"Because mosquitoes don't hatch out of the wetland already infected with the virus, they have to bite native animals and those animals are typically kangaroos and wallabies.

"You will be at greater risk ... when you are outside some of the main urban areas, particularly when you are in that interface between the wetlands and areas where there is a lot of wildlife."

Council campaign

Councils on the far north coast, one of the worst-affected areas, recently launched the Tackling Mosquitoes Together campaign.

It was developed to raise awareness about risk factors, especially trouble spots around the home.

The Tweed Council's environmental health officer, Kelly Piazza, said mosquitoes would breed wherever there was still water.

"Anywhere and everywhere, and they will take any opportunity," she said.

"So anywhere the water can sit and be stagnant, that's where you're going to find that mosquitoes will come and lay their eggs."…...

Tackling Mosquitoes Together campaign runs through to end of April 2021. Details at https://www.tacklingmosquitoestogether.com.au/

Join our SMS program for helpful tips and reminders to protect yourself, your family and community from the disease risks and nuisance of mosquitoes.

Another reason why Australia's remaining native forests should be saved from the loggers - rare bees

 

An Australian native bee believed extinct is found after a 97 year absence from the records.

Pharohylaeus lactiferus 
IMAGE: James Dorey Photography

The Journal of Hymenoptera Research 81:165-180, 25 February 2021:

Missing for almost 100 years: the rare and potentially threatened bee, Pharohylaeus lactiferus (Hymenoptera, Colletidae)

James B. Dorey

Abstract

The Australian endemic bee, Pharohylaeus lactiferus (Colletidae: Hylaeinae) is a rare species that requires conservation assessment. Prior to this study, the last published record of this bee species was from 1923 in Queensland, and nothing was known of its biology. Hence, I aimed to locate extant populations, provide biological information and undertake exploratory analyses relevant to its assessment. Pharohylaeus lactiferus was recently rediscovered as a result of extensive sampling of 225 general and 20 targeted sampling sites across New South Wales and Queensland. Collections indicate possible floral and habitat specialisation with specimens only found near Tropical or Sub-Tropical Rainforest and only visiting Stenocarpus sinuatus (Proteaceae) and Brachychiton acerifolius (Malvaceae), to the exclusion of other available floral resources. Three populations were found by sampling bees visiting these plant species along much of the Australian east coast, suggesting population isolation. GIS analyses used to explore habitat destruction in the Wet Tropics and Central Mackay Coast bioregions indicate susceptibility of Queensland rainforests and P. lactiferus populations to bushfires, particularly in the context of a fragmented landscape. Highly fragmented habitat and potential host specialisation might explain the rarity of P. lactiferus. Targeted sampling and demographic analyses are likely required to thoroughly assess the status of this species and others like it.

Keywords

Conservation, extinction risk, fragmentation, Hylaeinae, invertebrate conservation, Queensland, wildfire, rainforest

Introduction

The greatest threats to ecosystems and species worldwide are habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation (Vie et al. 2009). Australia has already cleared over 40% of its forests and woodlands since European colonisation, leaving much of the remainder fragmented and degraded (Bradshaw 2012). The vast majority of clearing has occurred on freehold and leasehold land and for animal agriculture (Evans 2016). In particular, Queensland is a contemporary land-clearing hotspot and is responsible for more than half of all land-clearing in Australia over the past four decades (Evans 2016). It is a failing of state and federal government policy and regulation that land clearing in Queensland continues at rates that should be of concern both nationally and internationally (Reside et al. 2017).

Despite the ecological importance of Australian native bees, we know very little about their biology (Batley and Hogendoorn 2009) or conservation status. North Queensland hosts high species richness and endemism (Crisp et al. 2001; Orme et al. 2005; Hurlbert and Jetz 2007) and several bee genera that are found nowhere else in Australia (Houston 2018; Smith 2018). These restricted bee genera include: Ctenoplectra Kirby (Apidae: Apinae), Nomada Scopoli (Apidae: Nomadinae), Mellitidia Guérin-Méneville (Halictidae: Nomiinae), Reepenia Friese (Halictidae: Nomiinae), Patellapis Friese (Halictidae: Halictinae) and Pharohylaeus Michener (Colletidae: Hylaeinae).

Pharohylaeus has only two described species: P. papuaensis Hirashima & Roberts in Papua New Guinea and P. lactiferus (Cockerell) in Australia (Houston 1975; Hirashima and Roberts 1986). Both species are relatively large (9–11 mm), robust, mostly black with distinctive white facial and body markings, and have the first three tergal segments enlarged and enclosing the others. The former is known only from two females which were collected on Syzygium aqueum (Burm.f.) Alston (Myrtaceae) in 1982 (Hirashima and Roberts 1986). No published records of P. lactiferus have been made since the third of January 1923, when three males were collected in the Atherton Tablelands; in May of 1900 a male and a female were collected in Mackay while another female was collected in Kuranda prior to 1910 (Cockerell 1910; Houston 1975). However, the collection localities of these specimens are imprecise and no biological data were recorded.

Due to the dearth of biological information on P. lactiferus prior to this study, I aimed to locate extant populations and contribute biological information as part of a broader bee survey. Because of this, much of what follows are exploratory analyses of the potential risks for P. lactiferus and suggestions for future research. Hence, I undertook a series of post-hoc analyses in order to provide insights into the biology, ecology and potential extinction risks associated with P. lactiferus. I provide insights into the circumstances of the rediscovery of P. lactiferus and what is now known of its floral and habitat associations. I also explore spatial data relating to P. lactiferus (vegetation association, potential fire risks and occurrences) and my sampling methods (for potential biases). The possible floral and habitat specialisation along with the rarity of P. lactiferus raises concerns about its conservation status. I further highlight the need for preservation of remnant vegetation and better arthropod-diversity monitoring, particularly for at-risk and phylogenetically important species.

Methodology can be found here.

Australia's violent far-right racism gets read into the parliamentary record in February 2021

 Labor MP for Scullin Andrew Giles in Australian Parliament, House of Representatives, Hansard, Statements by Members, 24 February 2021:

Mr GILES (Scullin) (13:50): A Neo-Nazi assaulting a woman with a homemade flamethrower—this isn't 1930s fascist Europe; this is happening in Australia in 2021. At a Gosnells shopping centre, near Perth, a man with a Nazi symbol on his forehead used a flamethrower to assault an innocent mother who was shopping with her daughter. The WA police said that, after blasting flames at them, the perpetrator said he was doing this because they were Indigenous. This attack is horrific. I hope that the mother and the daughter are doing okay and that they are getting all the support that they need and deserve.

Neo-Nazis are emerging as one of Australia's biggest security threats. ASIO's director-general, Mike Burgess, has said that cells of right-wing extremists are regularly gathering in Australia to salute the Nazi flag and disperse their hateful ideology. Yet this government's response to the threat has been inadequate, to say the very least. This rise of right-wing extremism, this rise of racism—these things are not happening in a vacuum. Not enough is being done to tackle racism and stamp out right-wing extremism. So I once more call on the Morrison government to finally establish a national antiracism strategy with a zero-tolerance approach to racism at its core.

Police identity kit photo of the alleged assailant:

Satire of the Week

 

https://www.betootaadvocate.com/

Quotes of the Week

 

“You withhold? That's a choice. I know journalism, I know editing, I know publishing, and I fucking *see* you. You've chosen a side and will not even *seek* the truth.”  [Richard Chirgwin, on the subject of Australian journalism and the Canberra Press Gallery, Twitter, 24 February 2021]

“My shirt is not an invitation to rape me. My dress is not an invitation to follow me home. My strappy singlet is not the reason you lost your job. My body is not responsible for your behaviour.” [Columnist & standup comedian Mandy Nolan writing in the Echo NetDaily, 16 February 2021]

“The News Media Bargaining Code is a small-minded move that will only further cement what the backward NBN began: a smaller, less informed, more conservative and less democratic Australia. A Murdoch backwater, with no way out.”  [Managing editor Michelle Pini, writing in Independent Australia on 24 February 2021]