Aged care leaders from Western Australia will come together next month for a one-day seminar on the sector’s financial sustainability.
Speakers at the Aged Care Association Australia WA (ACAAWA) event include well known aged care financial consultants and federal politicians.
Grant Thornton’s aged care industry leader, Cam Ansell will talk about the possibilities for developing aged care communities in a deregulated environment.
“When you have an overregulated system, you end up with rough cuts between retirement living and residential care,” he said.
“But in an environment that is not so regulated, there is more of a middle ground, with room for things like serviced apartments which are difficult to make viable at the moment.”
“I think we will go from having high care, low care and independent living towards a model where we have independent living, serviced apartments and high care.”
Aged care consultant James Underwood and Rachel Lane from Colonial will also provide information about financial strategies for aged care providers.
The Greens’ health spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert will outline her party’s recently released aged care discussion paper which called for a single funding system and a new statutory body to oversee aged care.
“Hopefully it will be a two way process,” Senator Siewert said. “We are really keen to get feedback because unless the government addresses aged care, we will lurch from crisis to crisis.
“There is a bit of fear mongering out there about the burden of an ageing population but if we get our response right now, the ageing population won’t be such a problem.
“We have the opportunity to move away from the doom and gloom picture, which I don’t think is an appropriate one.”
Ageing Minister Justine Elliot and her opposition counterpart, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells will also give presentations at the seminar.
The CEO of ACAAWA, Anne-Marie Archer said it was particularly important to hear each party’s policy plans in an election year.
“Aged care needs reform and as [the sector] is so heavily regulated, it is crucial that we hear what our representative minister, shadow minister and Greens Senator can tell us about their party's plans for the future,” she said.
“There will be considerable pressure on this government in the lead up to the election to address the reform required to managing the growing demand for services from our ageing population.”
The seminar will be held from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Tuesday, 8 June at the Boulevard Centre in Floreat.
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