A new round of aged care reform proposals has been released, reflecting the opinions and concerns of providers.

The joint report from Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA), Hynes Lawyers and PKF Australia calls for new approaches to capital and recurrent funding, planning and allocations and regulatory compliance.

Its 25 recommendations were based on consultation with the sector and a survey of 200 approved providers held earlier this year.

The report’s most urgent proposal is a call for standard high care residents to pay accommodation bonds or equivalent daily payments, provided they have the means to do so.

If the government baulks at the prospect of bonds in high care, the report says it must be prepared to lift accommodation charges to match bond rates or introduce a low interest loan scheme to enable providers to build new facilities.

Julie Hough, a partner with PKF who conducted the financial modeling for the report, said providers cannot access sufficient capital funding.

“What we are recommending is a shift towards a more resident funded care and accommodation model,” she said.

“But we do acknowledge that there are a lot of political sensitivities around changing the resident side of the funding model.

“We believe accommodation bonds are the best solution and number one priority, however if the government does not go that way, it needs to provide alternative processes for accessing capital.”

The report warned against a move to deregulate the sector completely, calling for a study to analyse the impact of abolishing the Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR).

While the Hynes and ACAA survey found strong support for a removal of the distinction between high and low care, 52 per cent of participating providers felt complete deregulation “would have a negative effect on balance sheets”.

“Providers are concerned that we don’t end up with an abolition of the ACAR without any consideration of the impact that would have on their asset base,” said the CEO of ACAA, Rod Young.

“If we did away with the ACAR altogether there is certainly an asset issue that would affect some providers holding bed licences.

“The other problem is that this industry is rigidly fixe...
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