With the Social Inclusion Unit disbanded, the onus is now on providers to invest in our people and programs to ensure we find solutions for the most vulnerable older people in the community, writes Sandra Hills and Amee Morgans.
On 18 September, the Australian Social Inclusion Unit was disbanded by the Coalition. Whilst researching for this article, we could find only a handful of articles that mentioned this fact. It went through the media relatively unnoticed.
The Social Inclusion Board, a part of this unit, was established in May 2008 by the Labor Government and was the main advisory board to the government on ways to engage the community to provide better outcomes for the most disadvantaged. As older Australians are among the most vulnerable in our community, the Social Inclusion Board was a platform for aged care providers to work on service delivery reform for the sector.
As a result of the changes to the unit and other advisory boards, the responsibility now lies with social support providers. And we, as individual providers, need to look at what we can do internally to ensure our clients are socially included. However, before we discuss that further, let’s first consider what social inclusion actually means for aged care.
Social inclusion is a broad concept with mixed opinions and definitions across the political landscape. Because of this, there is some ambiguity around how it should impact on individuals, organisations and policy. What is agreed upon, however, is that older Australians can be at higher risk of social isolation. Levels of social connection and engagement are greatly reduced with ageing, due to a number of factors such as changing physical and emotional needs, the onset of disability and illness, reduced mobility, limited access to transport and services, reduced income, living alone, and the death of friends and/or a spouse (for more, see Breaking Down the Wall- Barriers to Social Inclusion amongst Older Australians by Northside Community Service).
A definition of social inclusion adopted by the Victorian Department of Health is:
A socially inclusive society is defined as one where all people feel valued, their differences are respected, and their basic needs are met so they can live in dignity. Social exclusion is the process of being shut out from the social, economic, political and cultural systems which contribute to the integration of a person into the community.”
Based on this, what impact does disbanding the Social Inclusion Unit have on us as a sector? The priority for the new Department of Social Services (DSS) seems to be on reducing red tape and improving productivity. Analysis of policy changes and media statements suggest that the Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews, is interested in facilitating not-for-profits to take on a greater role in finding solutions to societal problems, allowing the government to step back and take on an enabling role. Such an approach puts the disbanding of the Social Inclusion Unit into context; in the government’s opinion, it is time for providers, not government or advisory boards, to find innovative answers to their client’s issues.
Since moving aged care from the federal Department of Health into the DSS, the most tangible difference we have seen so far is the change in language and the introduction of new terminology from the Coalition. One example is the change of the term social inclusion itself, replacing it with other terms such as ‘inclusive growth’ or ‘community engagement’. On paper, the semantics have changed. In reality, the practice stays the same. As service providers, we are continuing with the same work, but we are framing it differently. Disbanding the Social Inclusion Unit and allowing not-for-profits to find their own answers is the perfect example of this; we are still doing the same work, we are just reframing it from a ‘push’ model of social inclusion to a ‘pull’ model of community participation.
Generating social opportunity
This change in perspective offers providers an opportunity to develop initiatives that support communities which include older people. We need to look at how we can better integrate the community into our programs and generate social opportunity more naturally, rather than placing our clients out in the community in a process of social inclusion.
Benetas has been a strong advocate for social inclusion in the aged care sector during the past few years. Our vision of providing “a positive, fulfilling experience of ageing where everyone has the opportunity to age well in communities of choice and support” has provided a basis for a social inclusion agenda within our organisation. This can easily be a platform for other aged care providers to take on the responsibility of social inclusion in their communities.
In 2011, Benetas facilitated a Social Inclusion Taskforce, with providers from across Australia coming together to share their programs in order to determine best practice in this space. However, as a sector, we need to take this to the next level, to make this a nationwide priority, particularly now that the duty lies with us. Despite the abolition of the Social Inclusion Unit, social inclusion is still on the Federal Government’s agenda, however as aged care providers we need to take more ownership and make it our agenda.
We need to ensure our staff are educated around the issues of social isolation, and provide workforce development that engages and advances community participation. We need to build relationships that enhance social inclusion for our clients. And we need to invest in our projects and programs that enable community participation. There are also opportunities for initiatives that better support older people undergoing later life transitions, such as retirement, cessation of driving, widowhood, and financial education to prevent or minimise the drivers of social inclusion in the first place.
Social inclusion is about people coming together, being connected and interacting with one another in a fulfilling way. The investment we must make as providers, particularly now that the Social Inclusion Unit has been disbanded, is in our people – our staff and our clients. This is how we will discover solutions for those vulnerable older people in our community. We must make a commitment on a broad scale to continue to invest in staff and initiatives that promote an environment of social opportunity.
Sandra Hills is chief executive officer and Amee Morgans is innovation, policy and research manager at Benetas. Special thanks to Alan Gruner.
