Lewis, R, Woods, M, Brown, D, Parker, D, Sutton, N & McAllister, G University of Technology Sydney 2022, Support at Home: A Commentary on the design of the proposed unified program., pp. 1-42, Sydney.
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The following Commentary on the strengths and shortcomings of the currentproposals for a unified Support at Home program and the submission of specificproposals for consideration in the next round of consultations, is offered byresearchers at the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC).
Sutton, N, Ma, N, Yang, J, Lewis, R, McAllister, G, Brown, D & Woods, M University of Technology Sydney 2022, Australia’s Aged Care Sector: Mid-Year Report (2021-22), pp. 1-126, Sydney.
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The Editorial Board of Australia’s Aged Care Sector welcomes you, our readers, to this first edition of what is to become a biannual report on the delivery of subsidised aged care services to senior Australians in need. The focus of this f irst edition is the Mid-year Report (2021-22). The second edition will report on the full financial year 2021-22. This series has been established to provide an independent assessment of the sector by the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC) at the University of Technology Sydney. It will have a broad policy scope and will analyse the performance of the sector from accounting, health economics and labour market perspectives. It will offer commentary on the key policy and operational issues impacting the delivery of subsidised aged care. From the second edition, it will also include the publication of policy relevant research. At the core of this report’s financial analysis will be aggregated, deidentified survey data which StewartBrown is making available to UTS as part of a broader partnership between the two organisations. As many readers will be aware, StewartBrown has been publishing its Aged Care Financial Performance Survey since 1995. Over the last two decades, the report has grown in volume and depth of coverage and is the largest benchmark data source in the aged care sector. For many years the report has also been a key public information resource for providers, government, researchers and other stakeholders across the sector. StewartBrown has now decided to focus on its benchmarking reporting to aged care providers, and it is our challenge to respectfully build on the strong foundation constructed by Grant Corderoy and his team and to provide the wider audience with an objective, evidence-based analysis of the sector. We are conscious that as the Australian population ages, the demand for care for senior Australians will continue to grow, but that it will need to evolve to better reflect the needs and p...
Woods, M, Sutton, N, McAllister, G, Brown, D & Parker, D University of Technology Sydney 2022, Sustainability of the Aged Care Sector: Discussion Paper, pp. 1-84, Sydney.
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This Discussion Paper aims to support and promote an informed national policydebate on the sustainability of publicly subsidised aged care services in Australia.A sustainable aged care system is crucial to current and future senior Australians and theirfamilies. Equally, it is of fundamental importance to taxpayers, providers and the sector’sworkforce. Sustainability has several dimensions. The four addressed in this Paper are: taxpayeraffordability; community satisfaction with the care provided; workforce availability; andprovider viability.The current aged care system has been under stress for some time and the situation is worsening.Demand-side pressures are arising from demographic and health changes in Australia’s ageingpopulation and from community expectations for safer and higher quality care.On the supply side, there are already significant constraints on the sustainable availability of anappropriately skilled aged care workforce, which will likely worsen as the working-age proportionof the population declines. In addition, sector viability is under threat, given that the financialperformance of most, though not all, providers who deliver the care is generally poor, especiallyin residential care.And yet, the costs of improving the quality and safety of services will need to increase toaddress community dissatisfaction with a number of aged care services. Staff wages andconditions must rise so that the sector can compete for skilled workers. Additional investmentfunding is also needed in the sector to respond to growing demand.Government spending on aged care will need to rise. However, budgetary concerns raisequestions about the fiscal sustainability of significant increases, particularly in the contextof higher national debt in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, consumercontributions to the cost of aged care services are low, even among senior Australians whohave the financial capacity to pay more.
