Older Australians and the workers who care for them will bear the brunt of a Federal Government decision to lift aged care funding at well under the rate needed to keep pace with rising wages and living costs, Anglicare Sydney has warned.
The 2.6% increase to the base price for residential aged care, announced this week, falls short of the 4.75% rise in award wages and 3.5% inflation now facing the sector.
Anglicare Sydney CEO Simon Miller said the shortfall would be felt well beyond aged care homes.
“In real terms this means less money for the care of older people, not more. If aged care isn’t funded properly, you don’t save money, you just move the cost to our hospitals. There’s a direct line between this decision and ambulances ramping outside emergency departments next winter, with older people caught in the middle,” Mr Miller said.
“This is being called an increase, but when wages are climbing 4.75% and costs are rising faster than the funding, it’s a cut in everything but name. Older people are being short-changed, and the dedicated workers who care for them are being asked to do more with less.”
Mr Miller said the decision, along with leaving the hotelling supplement unchanged, echoed concerns raised during the Royal Commission into Aged Care, which criticised successive governments for committing the minimum rather than what the system genuinely needs.
“The Government must fund aged care at the true cost of care and resolve the hotelling supplement review without delay, so older Australians get the care they deserve and the people who provide it are properly backed,” he said.
