Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Thursday, 26 August 2004) . . Page.. 4360 ..

for the economically disadvantaged to put supportive housing proposals together on residential and commercial sites.

We are considering loans and recurrent funding for aged persons accommodation. The government is currently working on some further options to assist or offer incentive to the providers of aged persons accommodation where that is necessary. Government support should be considered for aged care providers whether they are profit or non-profit. They come in a financial form such as loans or targeted financial assistance or in other ways. I have asked the senior executives interdepartmental committee to form a working group with the Council on the Ageing and a panel of service providers to allow them to directly contribute to further development of these options.

This list of initiatives by my government shows how we are addressing the many diverse aspects of the challenge of ensuring that our aged people are housed in accommodation that suits their preferences and their needs. The government has made some very significant progress but it recognises that there is still a way to go. We continue to face considerable challenges. Some of these are specific to the ACT, some are challenges faced by all states and territories and some are specifically the result of Commonwealth government allocation policies.

In relation to Commonwealth government action, while the government is pleased with the budget announcement that indicative numbers of new places will be announced three years in advance, it knows that, unless places are allocated in advance to particular service providers, there is still too much uncertainty to allow providers to undertake effective business planning. The ACT government will take this up with the Commonwealth in an attempt to obtain greater certainty for forward planning, but of course we all know that Commonwealth processes are beyond the ACT’s direct control and reform of the national process will not be immediate.

The ACT government also appreciates the changing nature of what is seen as appropriate accommodation for aged people. Increasingly it appears that ageing in place is seen as the future of aged care. This often involves suitable non-institutional accommodation with services provided as required. So it is a step in the right direction to see that the Commonwealth has at least recognised this trend and accepted that the balance between residential and community care should be re-weighted to double the proportion of places offered in the community.

There has also been concern expressed about having a number of provisionally allocated beds that are yet to be made operational. In the ACT this number is currently 209. However, to suggest that this indicates a breakdown in the delivery of beds displays a complete lack of understanding of the provision of aged care accommodation and the Commonwealth government’s current system. The Commonwealth typically allocates beds once a year and the service provider then has a nominal period of two years to operationalise the allocation. However, Australia-wide only 40 per cent of beds are operationalised within two years. There are a number of factors that contribute to that, which include the time it takes to design and construct large projects worth tens of millions of dollars. Design works and statutory approvals can and do take a year or more to arrange. Therefore, construction time alone can exceed the two years. Most service providers in the ACT are from the not-for-profit sector and are governed by boards who must consider any proposal requiring capital expenditure.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .