industry & reform to have that single industry association . With LASA bringing together the statebased organisations into a single national entity in 2016 and then going on to be a successful organisation and growing its membership , influence and impact , I think that became a blueprint in large part to show how an organisation that is singly-focused with that broad and diverse membership base can be high-performing and serve the needs of all different types of members .
At the same time ACSA went through a similar process , unifying their state-based organisations in 2016 . Then we saw the introduction of the Australian Aged Care Collaboration about two years ago , where we brought not only ACSA and LASA together , but also the faith-based aged care provider groups .
To me , all of these were milestones along the way to getting us to the point where we had a vote of ACSA and LASA members , and unanimously supported the proposition of creating a single industry association .
I think alongside the operating context now , being two years into the pandemic , a year on from the government ’ s response to the Royal Commission , with the reform agenda – all of those things I think have driven us to the point where the vote was unanimously supported .
What decisions have been made regarding what will happen to the executive teams of LASA and ACSA ? One of the things that has been foremost in our minds is the need to ensure that our members are fully supported on operational day-to-day matters , alongside the advocacy and strategic support that they rely both on ACSA and LASA for .
I ’ m really pleased that through the process we ’ ve secured a commitment for all non-executive staff to have their employment retained for at least a period of 12 months from the implementation of the new industry association , so that will ensure we mitigate against the risk of losing key staff and we can ensure the continuity of service for our members and hopefully bringing those teams together to build on and enhance the service offering to members .
What are some of the most important things you ’ re going to focus on ? It ’ s fair to say when you talk to anybody involved with the reform agenda , whether it ’ s an older person or their carer , whether it ’ s an aged care worker or an aged care service provider , there are many , many elements of the reform process that all of those stakeholders are not happy with .
We feel that we need to sit down with the new minister and put forward a well-reasoned plan to get the reform process back on track .
We need to put in place and prioritise measures around workforce , so that means ensuring that we have more staff on deck , that those staff are better skilled and qualified , and those staff are paid appropriately .
The second thing we need to do is resolve the funding issues . We can ’ t continue to have the situation where we have nearly two-thirds of aged care homes operating at a loss , where the ongoing costs of COVID are not being truly accounted for or subsidised with regard to government funding . We then need to be able to pay higher wages to staff , provide better training for staff , and to employ more staff .
Thirdly and really importantly , is around performance and accountability in the aged care system . If we are spending more money and we are having more staff working and more resources being directed towards better care , we need to be able to measure that in a way that truly demonstrates how the services being delivered are making a tangible difference in the life of the older person receiving that care or supported service , at the individual level .
And then at the collective level , how we ’ re demonstrating to the nation that the investment made by the taxpayer in aged care is actually delivering not only good quality outcomes , but good value for money .
What do you think aged care providers would like from the government right now ? We already had issues with workforce in aged care long before COVID . COVID ’ s only made things worse and now the tightening labour market is making things even harder .
If you add to that the cost of living pressures , what we ’ re seeing is aged
“ I think it ’ s an indication of the maturity of the aged care sector . care workers who , relative to people that do similar work in other sectors , are underpaid . They by and large report that they enjoy their work – it ’ s at times hard work , but it ’ s highly satisfying work – but the economics of it with the increased cost of living is driving them from our sector . That ’ s not what we want and certainly not what older Australians need .
We want a partnership with government on workforce where a supplement is paid to all aged care providers to invest into their workforce : to employ more workers or to spend money to better attract , retain and develop those workers .
Secondly , we want a commitment from government on an increase in wages for aged care workers , consistent with whatever the outcome of the Fair Work Commission process is , but also consistent with the recommendations of the Royal Commission .
Thirdly , we want a commitment from government to really expand the workforce to include allied health services and an assessment process to make sure that that becomes just part of the standard care process for older people .
The Fair Work Commission is probably going to set a minimum shift of two hours for part-time care workers . What problems does this pose for older people receiving care from home , do you think ? I think it brings to a head some issues around the casualisation of the labour force in our sector , but on the other side , it also speaks to demand-driven consumer choice and control .
What we need to do is be flexible enough to accommodate those choices , but we need to do so in a way that ’ s economically prudent and affordable .
It also then feeds into the design process around the reforms to the Care at Home program , and again talking to consumers , talking to workers , talking to providers , there are many challenges in the model that ’ s being put forward by the government . Not least of all , a concern from consumers that their ability for choice and control is going to be diminished . ■ agedcareinsite . com . au 9