Dear AAA’s avid readers
A year in review, Merry Christmas wishes and a big thank you for your support throughout 2012…from the AAA team.
By Yasmin Noone on behalf of the AAA team
As the calendar moves closer to New Year’s Day 2013, and the AAA team begins to wind up a year of hard work and dedication to reporting the issues that matter to you, we pause to reflect on the year that was.
At the start of 2012, east-coast based residential aged care providers bravely fought fire and floods and safely evacuated older people with the help of many kind volunteers and dedicated service-people.
The prospective merger between the sector’s not-for-profit and for-profit peak bodies formally collapsed, just prior to the creation of the new advocacy group – Leading Age Services – for retirement living, and community and aged care providers from all profit-persuasions.
Dubbed, the ‘year of reform’ by aged care advocates, 2012 marked the period in time where many of sector’s campaigning hopes were achieved. The federal government’s Living Longer. Living Better aged care reform package secured $3.7 billion for the sector to be allocated over the next five years. But soon enough, tribulation was chased by funding disappointments after the ‘ACFI clawback’ was announced.
We wrote news on workforce woes, antipsychotic overuse in dementia care, and the lack of accommodation and care solutions for young people in residential aged care.
But on the brighter side, we’ve had movement on consolidating anti-discrimination legislation and equal pay for female care workers, as well as federal government action to make dementia a National Health Priority Area and released new LGBTI and CALD diversity strategies.
Palliative care issues haven taken centre stage, as discussions on the need to conserve energy after the carbon tax was introduced.
Later in the year, the Retirement Village Association announced its merger with the Property Council of Australia. And other advocacy groups with an interest in 2013 state and federal budgets got thinking began campaigning to achieve their next funding wish-list.
Back here in AAA’s Glebe, NSW office, the year was made extra special with the launch of our new, much-hoped for technology magazine, Technology Review. We forged ahead with Twitter and Facebook reporting and made concerted efforts to include the ‘consumer’s view’ when writing our AAA magazine articles.
AAA is proud to have brought you the news of 2012 and discussed, in-depth, issues of concern and promising solutions to promote better practice throughout the sector.
We are honoured to have shared your journey and to have been there, with you, through both the incredible highs and lows.
And, most importantly, we are thankful for your involvement in our printed and online aged care discussions, your social media interactions, your feedback on the work we are doing, and your ongoing support.
We aim to do more, and go bigger and better than ever in 2013. But, we can only do it with your help.
So please, keep in touch with the AAA team and keep us up-to-date with all that is happening in your quarter of the aged care world.
May you, your family, your colleagues and all the older people you work with enjoy a festive, fun and safe Christmas Day. And best wishes for a stress-free but productive and successful 2013.
Take care and enjoy.
Warm regards
Australian Ageing Agenda