Six more sleeps
Not long to wait now for the final report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Care of Older Australians.
Above: Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler MP
By Yasmin Noone
This time next week, the sector will have in its possession the most powerful lobbying tool it has seen in the last decade, after the government makes public the Productivity Commission’s final report from its Caring for Older Australians inquiry next Monday.
The long-awaited final report, written by the government’s own chief economic advisory body, will be released by the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, around 2.30pm on Monday 8 August – news the minister chose to ‘tweet’ to twitter followers on 21 July. While final details and confirmation is yet to come, it is believed the report will be available for download on the Productivity Commission’s website at that time.
The release of the final report, widely described by aged care commentators as representing ‘an opportunity of a lifetime’, will provide the sector with all of the economic reasoning it needs to further convince the government that structural reform is essential.
The PC report will blueprint what the aged care system of the future should look like and the recommended course of action the government should take in order to get there.
News of the early-August public release date has been welcomed by the sector, as the minister was only required to table the report in Parliament within 25 parliamentary sitting days following receipt of it. This could have meant a further waiting time of more than two months.
CEO of Catholic Health Australia, Martin Laverty, said he was delighted that the long-awaited report is “within reach now”.
“The major consumer and provider groups, and many within government are about to get from the PC, a roadmap to improving aged care into the future,” Mr Laverty said.
“It’s long overdue but all…are in furious agreement that the time to restore and build [a strong aged care sector] has arrived.”
Its final recommendations, which build upon those included in the draft, are expected to be wide-sweeping, calling for more funding and radical structural reforms.
Despite sector-wide hopes, government is not officially obliged to respond to the report at all, although the Prime Minister has an on-the-record commitment to aged care reform during her second term of office.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler said that once the final report is released, the “government will then engage with consumers, carers and other stakeholders as it develops its response to the [PC’s] final report.
“The government is committed to working closely with the broader community to ensure older Australians receive high quality care into the future.
“The future of our aged care system is an issue on the minds of all Australians and the government looks forward to a healthy debate about how it can build a better, more sustainable system that meets the challenges of the ageing population.”
Sector stakeholders, politicians and consumers alike have been waiting to learn of the PC’s last round of recommendations since the draft was released in January this year and the final report was handed down to government in late June.
We should also not lose sight of Treasurer Swan’s comment in a joint media release on 10 May 2011 (Budget night)that the Productivity Commission’s final report will be considered in the 2012-13 Budget context viz ‘…..the Government has commissioned the Productivity Commission to undertake an inquiry into long term reform options for the aged care sector, which will be considered in the context of the 2012-13 Budget’.