Plan to regulate Aboriginal services
Aboriginal flexible aged care services will come under a new set of independent standards, following an accidental death in a remote community last year.
The Commonwealth has unveiled a $46.2 million plan to introduce a new form of regulation for aged care services in remote Indigenous communities.
The plan will establish a set of independent quality standards for the 30 services operating under the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Aged Care Program.
A peer assessment program led by providers and industry professionals who are familliar with Aboriginal culture, may be used to monitor adherence to the new standards.
The new measures come after a resident at an Aboriginal flexible services facility in Docker River, NT, died last year when she fell into an open pit fire.
In a report obtained by the ABC, the Northern Territory Deputy Coroner found that the risk of the resident’s death at the facility, which was unsupervised overnight, was “high and predictable”.
The Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot announced that she has asked the independent Aged Care Commissioner, Rhonda Parker to assess the Department of Health and Ageing’s response to the incident.
The extra funding for flexible Aboriginal aged care services will also provide for building upgrades, more staff members, an advice service and an emergency assistance program.
“This is about finding a delicate balance between culturally sensitivity and the health and welfare of older and frail Indigenous people,” said the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot.
“That is why we are taking a common sense practical approach to providing aged care to Indigenous people in remote and isolated areas.”
The Aboriginal flexible aged care program was established in 1994 to provide aged care services in remote communities that could not support a conventional nursing home.
It provides care for close to 700 older Aboriginal people in remote and very remote areas of Australia.
