Royal commission
The future is unwritten
Future unclear post-royal commission as groups jockey for position .
By Michael Fine
When too much sport is barely enough is a much loved satirical credo made famous by the Australian sports comedians Roy Slaven and HG Nelson as they send up obsessed Australian sports fanatics . Something eerily similar seems applicable to the eight volumes of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety .
After waiting so long for the finished product , we see that the eight volume report is way too much . And yet , on so many crucial issues and questions , there is either nothing or what is said is not enough at all .
One very fundamental example is the question of whether the aged care system should continue to develop as a market . Can it ever truly be driven by consumers ? Is it possible that it could ever become either self-funded or self-regulating ?
In recent years , The Aged Care Roadmap ( NACA , 2016 ) had set this out as the direction and intended outcome of policy reform . The goal was neatly summarised as ‘ a consumer driven , market based , sustainable aged care system ’.
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Now , since the RC was called , there is no longer a roadmap showing the way forward . After the long anticipation of the RC ’ s final report , it all seems to be such an anti-climax . So , what happens next ? Where to now ? Many of us had expected the media to have used the report forensically to hold the Commonwealth Government to account . Cleverly , the Prime Minister released the report before anyone in the press had the chance to read it .
So , once again , we ’ re waiting for answers to questions that have yet to be asked .
Since its release on 4 March , there has been an almost deafening silence from government and opposition . ‘ Wait till the budget in May ’, we ’ ve been told .
Really ? Is it likely there could possibly be a truly extensive ‘ once in a generation ’ response , a system redesign or perhaps the appointment of an implementation committee , on budget night ? Even if there was such a response , would it be acceptable ? Would it even be credible given the problems currently facing the prime minister and his government ?
Behind the scenes , however , various powerful alliances within the aged care industry have been organising .
The first and most prominent is made up of the major service providers , The Australian Aged Care Collaboration ( AACC ), which claims to represent more than a thousand organisations that are responsible for around 70 per cent of the services delivered to 1.3 million Australians .
“ We ’ re waiting
for answers to questions that have yet to be asked .
Members include not-for-profit providers represented by ACSA as well as Anglicare , Catholic Care , Uniting Care and Baptist Care . LASA is also a member , representing a number of large and small for-profit private operators . Its spokespeople are LASA CEO Sean Rooney ACSA CEO Pat Sparrow .
A key feature of their strategy is to apply political pressure to local members of parliament and political candidates , especially in marginal seats with an ageing demographic . It promotes the use of a popular public campaign to pressure local members and candidates to support what they term ‘ comprehensive reform of the aged care system ’.
Given that many of the key members of the collaboration have long opposed a major public enquiry , it is hard to see public support for reform being expressed through support of the platform developed by the industry associations . They are , after all , directly responsible for providing the care in question . In turn , they have also been , and will likely continue to be , the main direct recipients of public funding and any additional private contributions made by consumers or their families .
The second bloc to emerge claims to represent consumers . A ‘ Joint Statement ’, endorsed by 12 organisations that together wear the title of
Aged Care ‘ Consumer Organisations ’, has been issued by COTA Australia . The statement sets out a call for a new ‘ Governance Structure ’ for aged care in Australia . This looks something like a mini multi-coloured chess board , which consumers will undoubtedly soon require additional help to understand and navigate .
The consumers ’ political strategy is not clearly articulated . Instead , the strategy appears to lie in a belief in policy detail and an appeal to popular support from consumers as voters .
But there are many voices missing . A crucial one is the organised representation of ordinary care workers and volunteers .
So , two powerful sets of players seem set to battle it out behind the scenes . No-one knows what the result will be . But unlike the Roy and HG show , the results really matter . ■
Michael Fine is an honorary professor at Macquarie University .