ACCPA snub at odds with Government’s aged care promises

For a Federal Government that has made big promises to prioritise aged care and fix the crisis plaguing the sector, the decision not to invite the peak industry body, the Aged and Community Care Providers Association, to this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit is frankly a baffling one. Yes, the sector will have some representation (link to story in this issue) through groups like Catholic Health Australia and providers such as Uniting NSW.ACT, and yes, ACCPA was given a seat at last week’s roundtable discussion (pictured) leading up to the summit. However, the point of ACCPA – born from the merger of ACSA and LASA earlier this year – is to give the aged care sector a unified voice, letting providers speak as one on the issues confronting them. Why, then, would the Government not let that unified voice be heard at the Summit, particularly when you consider that workforce shortages are one of the key factors fuelling the aged care crisis? Providers are struggling to recruit staff, and the upcoming mandate for 24/7 nursing in aged care by mid-next year may see smaller homes, especially in the regions, struggle even harder. Some are even having to turn away clients and leave beds empty because they simply can’t get the workers they need to deliver quality care. There have been a few proposals on how to solve the staffing problem – bringing in more migrant workers, increasing worker pay (the Government has promised to fully fund the Fair Work Commission’s eventual decision on the subject), and boosting training numbers – but without the peak body’s expertise in the mix, the risk is that any solution will come up short. We must give credit where it’s due to the new Government: it has taken some laudable actions on aged care, including fulfilling its promise to bring reform legislation before Parliament on the first full business day, and Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has experience working in the sector. She does genuinely seem to have the best interests of care recipients at heart. A snub like this, however, undermines the Government’s efforts on aged care and leads to serious concerns – as we have seen this week from industry luminaries such as Envigor CEO Nick Loudon – that the sector is not being listened to. Fingers crossed that ACCPA’s exclusion this time is just an oversight, and not a sign of further disengagement and dismissal to come.