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Landmark reforms of Australia’s aged care sector could be delayed for another year.
Leaked internal departmental communications suggest the reforms, suggested by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in 2021, will not be implemented by July 1 as previously suggested.
The implementation date was listed as “TBC” (to be confirmed) on the obtained documents, with January or July 2025 predicted as the new implementation date.
The new proposed laws included changes to the standards for residents’ rights, quality of care, and creating a simpler system.
The draft also suggests the possibility of civil and criminal penalties for aged care staff and directors found to be breaking the new standards.
The delay has left some industry experts worried about the uncertainty of the aged care sector.
“We still haven’t seen large portions of the legislation and we haven’t seen the rules,” Aged and Community Care Providers Association chief executive Tom Symondson said.
“If we rush it and don’t get the transition right or get the training right we will potentially fail a generation of older people.”
A federal government spokesperson has confirmed the delay to 9News, saying the target is a date later this year, which would avoid the 2025 electoral cycle.
“We appreciate that the government has undertaken some additional consultation this is a really major act that we need to get through,” Council on Ageing chief executive Patricia Sparrow said.
“How long do older people have to wait for rights? They’ve been waiting for a long time.”
A Royal Commission into Aged Care, held between 2018 and 2021, handed down a scathing report showing that successive governments, the national regulator and aged-care providers had ignored the neglect, abuse and below-average care that nursing home residents experienced for decades.
