Minister defends home care
Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot has defended the Federal Government’s support for community care, saying it helped older Australians remain independent and in their homes.
Recent comments by Torbay Retirement Village CEO, an aged care provider which runs Torbay Hostel at Hervey Bay, suggested Commonwealth-funded community care was instrumental in the reduction of the number of people going into nursing homes.
“Older Australians want to remain independent and in their own homes as long as possible and then have the option going to a nursing home, if it is needed. It is best to have two strong systems,” said the Minister for Ageing.
Mrs Elliot cited an independent Monash University study that found home-based community care packages for older Australians improved their quality of life and kept them healthier but stressed that she was committed to a long-term viability of the residential aged care sector but also wanted to ensure that there was a strong community care sector too.
Mrs Elliot expressed surprise at the comments as Torbay Retirement Village received $5.139 million in the previous financial year (2007-2008) from the Federal Government to support 165 places – 29 high care and 136 low care in the Torbay Hostel. In addition, 10 CACP (Community Aged Care Packages) were managed from the retirement village – totalling about $130,000.
