industry & reform
Coming of age
What the new aged care peak body means for the sector .
Sean Rooney Interviewed by Elise Hartevelt
After many years of waiting , peak bodies LASA and ACSA have announced they will join forces as the new Aged & Community Care Providers Association ( ACCPA ) from 1 July .
The final push came from the Royal Commission ’ s report which called for a unified body to better represent the aged care sector .
Former LASA CEO Sean Rooney agreed that “ it ’ s a historic day ” that was long overdue .
“ The idea of having a single industry association representing all providers and aged care services , irrespective of their ownership model , has been in the sector for close to two decades ,” Rooney said .
“[ The merger ] is an indication of the maturity of the aged care sector .”
Prior to stepping down from the CEO role at LASA , Rooney joined Aged Care Insite to discuss the merger and what it means for the aged care sector .
ACI : What is your response to the LASA / ACSA merger ? SR : I think it is a historic day for the aged care sector in Australia . The idea of having a single industry association representing all providers of aged care services – whether they ’ re residential care or in-home care or seniors housing or retirement living , and irrespective of their ownership model , be they private , or not-for-profit , faith-based , or even public sector , be it state government or a local council – is an idea that has been in the sector for probably close to two decades .
I think it ’ s an idea whose time has come , and in large part , I think it ’ s an indication of the maturity of the aged care sector but also the context in which we ’ re operating . It is just so fundamentally important for us to get aged care policy , programmes , and practises right for a nation with an ageing population .
I think that ’ s reflected in the vote being supported by members of both ACSA and LASA , and now really we have the green light to build that new association , not only for ACSA and LASA members , but for all providers and hopefully attract and bring even more members into the new organisation .
What are the benefits of a united body , and what do you think its impact will be on the aged care sector ? A starting point for me is a sense of the issues of ageing and aged care being issues of national importance . Being able to bring together the combined resources of ACSA and LASA and focus them in a very targeted way to prosecute strong argument around good policy for aged care , while also providing more supports and services for aged care operators , to me , that says that this now becomes the new industry association which will be an organisation of national importance .
I think when you look at where we are with respect to the reform agenda , never has it been more important for us to have a coherent and evidence-based advocacy voice to government to get those reforms right .
At the operational level we ’ re still dealing with a pandemic and we know that workforce is going to be an ongoing issue , and transitioning to some of the new initiatives coming through the reform process – we know that providers will be calling out for information , advice , support and services , to support and enable them to be able to respond to those operational issues that will impacting on their services .
In 2012 LASA and ACSA attempted to join forces but the vote was overturned . What ’ s different now ? It was actually the failure of that merger that created Leading Aged Services Australia . Those LASA state-based organisations had in their DNA the desire
8 agedcareinsite . com . au