industry & reform
Photo : Supplied
‘ Fighting the good fight ’
Outgoing ACSA chief reflects her achievements and hopes for the future .
Patricia Sparrow interviewed by Eleanor Campbell
Patricia Sparrow , chief executive of Aged Community Services Australia ( ACSA ), has announced her resignation after five years with the peak organisation .
Under her leadership , Sparrow has steered ACSA through its transition into a national body , the royal commission and into the first and second wave of the COVD-19 pandemic .
Sparrow joined Aged Care Insite to reflect on her time as ACSA chief executive , the trials and triumphs of the royal commission and COVID-19 , and her hopes for the future of the industry .
ACI : What would you say were your biggest achievements during your five years as CEO ? PS : It ’ s been an incredible five years to be at the helm of a national aged care peak body . I came in and was asked to form what was then a federation of states into a national body . I think ACSA has a great reputation and is a respected policy advisor to government and a commentator in the community , so I ’ m really proud of that achievement .
I do think we represented the sector really well through the royal commission . We took a position that there were things for which providers were absolutely responsible
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No matter how difficult we find it , we have to keep pushing for the changes .
and needed to accept responsibility , but that actually there were bigger systemic issues at play . And that was something that we worked through the whole Royal Commission .
We all saw the horrendous impact of COVID-19 in Victoria last year ; that was an incredibly difficult time , but I ’ m proud of the way that our team supported the members . I ended up appearing in the media a lot of times , and I hope that what I did through that period was represent the services well , services who were doing everything that they could against a deadly enemy . I hope that I was able to do that with compassion .
And then finally , the Royal Commission ’ s final report and a government investment of 17.7 billion . I did , and ACSA did , play a role in ensuring that we got that level of investment . I ’ m very proud of those things . It ’ s in part on looking back at those achievements that I made the decision that it was probably time for me to move on .
What ’ s your advice for the workers right now who are grappling with the enormous challenges in the sector ? I ’ m sure that their focus is very much on managing the COVID outbreaks . I know that in every state workers are very focused on keeping people safe . And on top of that , they ’ re going to be loaded with a heavy and fast reform agenda that we all need to participate in .
One thing the workers have proven is that they ’ re resilient and they ’ re an incredible group of people . My advice would be to look after yourselves and to make sure that you keep your resilience up and that you engage really positively with the reforms that are coming .
What do you think are the biggest challenges that lie ahead ? Just getting the reform done is a big challenge . I think there are two things that the Royal Commission and the government ’ s response haven ’ t fully addressed . One is our workforce . We have 368,000 who work in aged care , but we have to triple that workforce by 2050 .
We ’ re seeing increasing pressure and challenges in attracting the workforce , partly worsened by COVID and borders being closed to
16 agedcareinsite . com . au