Providers will receive support to implement reforms under the new Aged Care Act from 1 July 2025 through the assistance of a newly assembled Aged Care Transition Taskforce and a grants program.
The taskforce will provide advice to the government to help ensure the aged care reforms meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Council of Elders chair and National Aged Care Advisory Committee member Anne Burgess has been appointed chair of the new taskforce.
The taskforce has been established to work collaboratively to bring the sector through this transition journey, to troubleshoot implementation issues and provide expert advice to the aged care minister and the Department of Health and Aged Care, said Ms Burgess.
“I am very excited to take on the role of chairing this taskforce,” Ms Burgess told Australian Ageing Agenda.
“I feel privileged to have this opportunity to work towards the best outcome possible for older people, their families and the workforce now and into the future.”
The transition taskforce will also include aged care providers, consumer advocates, ICT specialists, primary and clinical care experts, and representatives from the Department of Health and Aged Care and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
Provider peak Aged & Community Care Providers Association took to Linkedin to welcome the creation of the taskforce and chief executive officer Tom Symondson as the representative for ACCPA and its members.
Mr Symondson said he was pleased to be a part of the new taskforce.
“Aged Care providers face significant challenges implementing these sweeping reforms within ambitious timeframes, while fulfilling their number one priority, improving the lives of older Australians,” Mr Symondson told AAA.
“We fully support the passage of the new Aged Care Act, but implementing reforms of such magnitude will take time. We only get one chance to get this right, so my focus will be advocating for practical and realistic transition timeframes.”
He added: “We all want these historic reforms to succeed, and that means a staged approach to implementation should be adopted. We also need to ensure that funding supports the scale of the change required.”
Grant details coming soon
The department is also working on the arrangements of a grant opportunity where eligible providers can apply for $10,000 to help with the costs of any IT changes required for 1 July. Details are expected to be published in the coming weeks.
Announcing the measures on Monday, Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said the government was determined to assist the industry to meet the challenges of moving forward.
“The transition taskforce will provide expert advice to government on the progress of implementation alongside oversight and stewardship to the sector,” said Ms Wells.
“I have always said I am ambitious for aged care. I know the sector can meet this challenge with the transition taskforce troubleshooting concerns raised by providers.”
Ms Burgess agreed the sector would face many challenges while transitioning to a new aged care system but added the taskforce would meet regularly to help address them.
“We have a big task ahead to work through feedback received from the sector on aged care reform,” Ms Burgess told AAA.
“The transition taskforce will be meeting as soon as possible and as often as possible to troubleshoot these issues.”
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