Aged Care Act ‘beyond urgent’
If not introduced to parliament soon, there are fears the legislation won’t meet its commencement date.
Stakeholders have been quick to express disappointment over the government’s continuing failure to introduce the new Aged Care Act to parliament.
The federal government has been negotiating with the coalition for months in an effort to strike a deal. Reports earlier this week suggested a compromise was close.
However, as parliament enters recess discussions remain in deadlock leaving little time for the legislation to pass before the federal election, which has to be held on or before 27 September 2025.
“If the new Act isn’t introduced immediately after parliament resumes in a fortnight, the chances of it passing before the next election are near zero,” said Tom Symondson – chief executive officer of the Aged & Community Care Providers Association.
On Thursday, during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government had been having “meaningful discussions with the coalition” and that it would prefer the Act to have bipartisan support. “It’s not viable to continue the current system the way that it is forever,” he added.
Passage of the new Aged Care Act has been beset by delays. Recommended by the aged royal commission in its final report in 2021, the Aged Care Act was initially due to come into effect from July 2023 before being pushed back to July 2024. This year the government announced another 12 month delay, resetting the commencement date to July 2025. Stakeholders fear this date will also be missed.
“Months of political negotiations, consultations with everyday Australians, consumer groups, economists, unions, providers and experts will have come to naught if the government and coalition fail to find a way forward. This is beyond urgent,” Mr Symondson said.
After the government conceded to drop a clause that would have seen providers and individuals face criminal penalties for dodgy practice, ACCPA thought agreement had been reached and is puzzled by the impasse.
“By all reports, the government and the coalition have reached agreement, yet we have not seen the new Act introduced. Whatever the hold up, this historic opportunity will be lost, and older Australians will be left in limbo – unless we act quickly,” Mr Symondson said. “This kind of reform has been attempted many times before and every time it has failed because of a lack of bipartisanship – we cannot let this be a repeat of the past.”
Mr Symondson was a member of the Aged Care Taskforce, established to advise the government on funding solutions for the sector. Its findings will inform part of the new Aged Care Act.
“We have high hopes that these reforms will not only save our sector from financial collapse but allow it to grow in response to the massive demand we will see as the population ages over the next two decades … but none of that can happen if the legislation isn’t even introduced.”
Mr Symondson said the time for politics is over. “This is too important. Quite simply, it’s now or never.”
The same message was relayed to government last week when a group of advocacy organisations released a joint statement calling on the government “to stop dithering on older people’s rights.”
Among the organisations voicing frustration, COTA Australia. “It’s been more than three years since the royal commission into aged care heard countless harrowing stories of abuse and neglect in aged care, yet older people are still waiting for a new rights-based Aged Care Act to be introduced,” COTA chief executive Patricia Sparrow said.
“Both parties know that the reform we need requires the underpinning of a new Aged Care Act, yet for some reason we are still waiting for the Act to be introduced and debated.”
She added: “It is now time for the government and the opposition to legislate rights as the bedrock of an aged care system that values and respects older people.”
Craig Gear – CEO of the Older Persons Advocacy Network – agrees. “Older people have waited far too long for their rights to be enshrined in legislation,” he said.
“Without the Act passed we don’t have enhanced quality standards, we don’t have the promised increase in protections for older people, and honestly, we don’t have viable and sustainable aged care providers.”
Mr Gear said business as usual is unacceptable. “This needs to be above politics … Older people have been consulted, they’ve contributed, and they’ve waited long enough – now they need to see action.”
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