Above: Business Council of Australia president, Tony Shepherd.

By Stephen Easton

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has confirmed its support for the commencement of aged care reform this year in its 2012-13 budget submission.

In December the BCA, which represents many of Australia’s largest businesses, strongly endorsed the recommendations made by the Productivity Commission’s (PC) Caring for Older Australians inquiry as part of any government response to intergenerational change and population ageing. 

Now the powerful lobby group has released its recommended measures for this year’s budget, which include “developing and releasing a response to the Productivity Commission’s report along with an implementation plan in the first half of 2012”, in line with what many in the aged care sector have called for.

“[The PC report] sets out a blueprint for change that will simultaneously address longstanding issues of access and quality and the economic performance of the sector,” BCA’s budget submission states. 

“Much like the proposed NDIS [National Disability Insurance Scheme], implementing the Productivity Commission’s [aged care] recommendations will place Australia in a better position to fund an adequate level of aged care at a reasonable cost in the longer term.”

The BCA is confident that deregulated markets envisaged by the PC “will provide consumers with more choice and investors with a sound platform for capital formation, greater investment in skills and professional development and enabling technologies”.

While the submission supports the implementation guidelines contained in Caring for Older Australians, it also argues for greater emphasis on “…the principles of good governance and a contemporary approach to program management and innovation”.

The plan should involve supporting collaborations between larger aged care providers and smaller ones, along with establishing a specific Information Technology and Communications Strategy and establishing centres of excellence in partnership with universities to inform development of new service delivery models, according to BCA.

The chief executive of aged care and seniors lifestyle provider IRT, Nieves Murray, has welcomed the Business Council’s support for the sector’s campaign for a commitment in the upcoming budget.

“The recommendations of the BCA go to the core of the aged care sector’s wishes over the coming budget and beyond,” Ms Murray said. 

“If we do not see an increase in funding and long-term financial security in this industry, the short-supply of care places will hit not in 20 years, but inside this decade.

“Seniors deserve to age well and we must plan and prepare for an aged care system that is efficient, effective and responsive to consumers. There must be clear choices for senior Australians and we must be able to provide for future needs.

“In Australia, we will need more than 82,000 new aged care beds before 2020. The investment cannot come from the sector until there is financial security into the future, and a new funding model to provide flexibility to operators and consumers alike.”

BCA’s budget submission also advocates strict fiscal discipline through three rules which would “boost the credibility of policymakers and build confidence [that] we can maintain growth and our Australian way of life over the long term”, according to president Tony Shepherd.

The rules include: limiting the size of the public service by capping tax as a share of GDP; putting aside money to repay debt and deal with future economic shocks; and preparing for economic pressures arising from the ageing population.

“The global economy will be more volatile and uncertain for some time and we also face enormous economic adjustment challenges at home associated with competitiveness threats to some sectors and intergenerational issues such as the ageing population,” Mr Shepherd said.

“We want Australia to be a beacon in the world for how to think ahead about looming challenges, but to do this we will need renewed discipline and a stronger focus on growth.”

A more detailed summary of the Business Council of Australia’s 2012-13 Federal Budget Submission is available here.