The ‘other’ PC inquiry
Reminder: The PC will soon release the draft report from its Disability Care and Support inquiry. It is expected to contain the commission’s initial recommendations about the interface between the aged care and disability sector.
By Yasmin Noone
Aged care stakeholders should be mindful not to forget about the ‘other’ Productivity Commission (PC) inquiry currently underway, with the draft report from the commission’s Disability Care and Support inquiry due out at the end of this month.
The soon-to-be released draft report is expected to outline the PC’s preferred option on the split in funding between the aged care and disability sectors.
Aged and Community Services Australia’s (ACSA) acting CEO, Pat Sparrow, reminded providers of impending disability care report and of its importance to the aged care sector.
“It completes the picture, particularly regarding people ageing with a disability and the treatment of the HACC program,” Ms Sparrow said.
“ACSA will be assessing the report and considering the reform implications for aged care.”
The Disability Care and Support draft will provide an insight into what the PC will say about the interface between the aged care and disability care sectors in its final Caring for Older Australians report.
The commission will “recommend the most appropriate funding, assessment and service delivery arrangements for people with disabilities who are ageing, and older people who incur a disability,” the recently released draft aged care report said about the overlap between the two inquiries.
“In defining an appropriate interface between the two systems, the commission is mindful of the importance of the service provision being seamless for the person receiving care.
“Services should be drawn from the sector with the most relevant expertise, irrespective of the funding source.”
The Disability Care and Support inquiry and its resulting report will identify how a scheme should be designed and funded to better meet the long-term needs of people with disability, their families and carers.
The PC aims to recommend how a proposed scheme will interact with the health, aged care, informal care, income support and injury insurance systems; the scheme’s impact on the workforce; how a scheme should be introduced and governed and what protections and safeguards should be part of the scheme, and the costs, benefits, feasibility and funding options of alternative schemes.
It will also examine who is in the most need of support, the services that should be available to them, and service delivery arrangements.
The final report is due out in July while the final aged care report will be released at the end of June.
The timing of the two inquiries, the PC said, is on purpose. In a circular released in November last year, the PC cited the Disability Care and Support inquiry as one of the reasons for the delayed release of its draft aged care report: “The commission said that it sought an extension to… more closely align release dates with those of the Disability Care and Support inquiry,” the circular said.
More than 600 inquiry submissions received
The Disability Care and Support inquiry attracted more submissions than the aged care inquiry, having received over 600 versus the 487 received by the PC for its Caring for Older Australians inquiry.
Catholic Health Australia (CHA) was one of 600-plus organisations which submitted its recommendations to the PC.
“CHA members have direct knowledge and experience of the fragmented nature of the current arrangements for caring for people with an acquired or congenital disability as they age,” the CHA submission stated.
“The fragmentation in current arrangements is accompanied by: inadequate resourcing, gaps in services and uneven access to services across different locations and States and Territories; inequity of treatment and eligibility; most importantly, lack of certainty of continuity of services as care and support needs change with age; and lack of choice of services.”
In its submission, CHA advised the PC to recommend the creation of a national aged care and disability program, which would encompass all people with long-term care needs, irrespective of age and the cause of frailty and disability.
It also advocated for the creation of two national parallel programs to address disability and aged care services separately. A prospective disability program would need to ensure lifelong care and support for people with congenital or acquired.
“The effectiveness of either option, however, would be compromised without adequate funding to meet need which avoids the necessity to ration services.”
