Ageing Australia states "plain truth" on 1 July reforms

In the wake of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s election victory, Ageing Australia has congratulated Albanese, calling on him to ensure aged care remains a priority of his government and saying that providers simply won’t have enough time to implement all of the new Aged Care Act reforms by 1 July.

In its statement, Ageing Australia said it worked closely with the Labor government and LNP Opposition in the previous term of parliament to reach rare bipartisan support for a new Aged Care Act, with Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson stating, “The reform journey can only continue with this type of solidarity.”

Supporting transition to the new Act, addressing “the workforce crisis” and improving access for older Australians “must be a national priority moving forward”, Symondson said. Ageing Australia added that on top of financial sustainability pressures, transition times remain a major concern for providers.

“We fully support the introduction of the new Act and the charter of rights for older Australians, but the plain truth is providers simply won’t have enough time to implement all of the reforms by 1 July, with the real risk of creating mass confusion for older Australians and the sector as a whole,” Symondson said.

“Both providers and older people need to get across the changes to the aged care system; however, we don’t yet know what those final changes are and we still don’t have all the information we need to get on with the job,” Symondson said. “We have an opportunity to deliver these once-in-a-generation reforms in a way that makes the lives of older people better — we cannot afford to squander it.”

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