The Productivity Commission will take nothing for granted in its aged care inquiry, according to commissioner Mike Woods.

Speaking at the Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) Community Care Conference on the Gold Coast, Mr Woods assured delegates that the commission was coming to the inquiry with a “blank slate”.

“We are not starting by asking, ‘What systems have we got in place and how can they be improved?’” Mr Woods said.

“This inquiry is about looking at what we should be doing to support older Australians into the future.

“We will not begin by looking at the situation as it is today – rather, we will look at what older people need and then we will consider what we need to do to meet those needs.

“If that means we need to change the way things are, we will do that.”

However Mr Woods hinted that the inquiry would recommend changes to the current fragmented community care system.

“There is a discontinuity of care between the different programs,” he said.

“If you are an older, frail person and someone has been helping you with things like showering for years, why can’t you keep them if you have to move onto a different program?

“As somebody becomes increasingly frail and has complex needs, why can’t they just add on more support to meet their changing needs, rather than swapping from program to program?

“It comes down to choice – that’s fundamental for us.”

Mr Woods also reiterated the call to all aged care providers to enter submissions to the inquiry before 30 July.

He said the commission was particularly keen to hear from organisations providing services to special needs groups including veterans, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and those who live in regional and remote communities.