13 November 2020
The ANMF has responded to Counsel Assisting’s final submissions to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Our response focuses upon the issues that are fundamental to the reform of the aged care system the ANMF has raised throughout the Commission’s hearings and are the subject of recommendations by Counsel Assisting.
The ANMF agrees with Counsel Assisting that a key matter of principle driving the need to set a new bar for aged care in Australia is to: “Give older people a universal entitlement to high quality aged care based on assessed need; giving all Australians, of all ages, the expectation that high quality aged care will be available if needed.”
While the ANMF has articulated broad support for many of the recommendations proposed in Counsel Assisting’s final submissions and agree that aged care reform requires a systemwide rather than piecemeal approach, there are several instances where the recommendations fall short of delivering on the stated promise to meet this ambition, resulting in a continued lack of access to high quality care for too many older Australians. In particular, the delays in achieving staffing levels and skills mixes that still would not meet the care needs of all residents are inexcusable.
In this submission and the accompanying spreadsheet we detail our rationale for our responses to recommendations put forward by Counsel Assisting aligned to our priority issues articulated in our own final submissions to the Commission.
Members can view the ANMF submission by clicking
here.