Submissions open on aged care progress report

The community is being invited to provide submissions to support the 2024 Progress Report on the Implementation of Aged Care Royal Commission Recommendations.

The Office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care (the Office) is looking in particular at how effectively people are able to access aged care for the first time, whether they can identify the care and support they need and how well they are able to navigate within the aged care system in order to receive this care.

A paper outlining the submissions process is also available on the Inspector-General of Aged Care’s website. The paper explains the Inspector-General’s role in reporting on the implementation of Royal Commission recommendations and provides more detail about the focus of the 2024 Progress Report. It includes a set of questions that speak to the 50 recommendations relevant to access and navigability, and are categorised as:

• Overall progress with implementation of Royal Commission recommendations
• Dementia support
• Star ratings
• Single comprehensive assessment process
• Care finders to support navigation of aged care
• Designing for diversity, difference, complexity, and individuality
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care pathway within the new aged care system
• Access to aged care in rural and remote areas
• Access to respite care.
   

To ensure that input to the report accurately reflects lived experience of the community, the Office is seeking the views of consumers, their families, friends, carers and advocates. Perspectives of care providers, consumer groups, peak bodies, academics, unions and workforce representatives, government agencies, education providers and anyone else with an interest in the aged care system are also encouraged.

Furthermore, insights from First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ people, people with dementia, people living in rural and remote locations, and others with diverse backgrounds will also play a critical role in providing a holistic understanding of experiences in the aged care system.

The 2024 Progress Report will build on the initial progress report prepared by the Interim Inspector-General in July 2023. Preparations for the publication of the 2024 report have commenced, and a copy of the report will be provided to the Minister for Aged Care before 1 June 2024. It will then be tabled in the parliament within 15 sitting days, and will be published on the Office’s website.

Submissions are open until 28 March 2024.

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