Reform Roadmap or Roadkill?

Analysis

26 Nov

4 minute read

TRIGGER WARNING
The words ‘change’ and ‘new’ are used extensively throughout this article. If you are suffering change fatigue please proceed with caution.

Expect 2024 to be a big year. Big on reform, big on detail, big on complexity, just really BIG. So, let’s unpack a little what this next year is likely to mean for service providers in the support at home sector.

It will be 27 years since the last time we got a new Aged Care Act, with a draft released in December and off to Parliament in March, the Act will create a whole new way we do business, with:

A new approach to rights & consumer choice
A new provider registration process
New quality standards
New compliance measures

Don’t be snoozing while the act is created because that’s the calm before the storm. It’s after the Act gets passed that the real change happens and the Minister has promised significant reform. The rubber hits the road when the Canberra policy boffins turn the ideals in the Act into regulations which will change the way support at home providers work, from the minute to the massive, we can be sure that change is coming.

A whole lot of new quality standards and indicators will also be coming our way. Can compliance get any more difficult in our work, you ask? Well yes absolutely, for the first time compliance will come with potential criminal penalties. Scary stuff, and if they happen to promise less bureaucracy and less red tape or less paperwork, beware the inverse correlation on this quality promise. In short, history has shown us less means more.

We are also going to see

A new approach to the funding and provision of goods, equipment & tech
Short term support funding for ‘wellness & reablement’
Redesign of Home Care packages including a ‘use it or lose it’ approach
A big rethink of Care Management funding and delivery
Transition of grant-funded services, like transport and meals on wheels

One of the big sleeper issues in all this reform is the potential change to case (aka care) management. If the new Act creates a significant change in provider registration (making it easier for new businesses to set up) and that then collides with a significant change in funded case management practice, we could see a whole new category of businesses arise. Small organisations made up of independent case managers that support people to navigate the complexities of aged care. In the NDIS it is called Support Coordination and it is a (big) radical change to the way people are supported. In the disability sector a huge number of small businesses have been set up to do this new form of independent case management, many of the staff previously frontline workers. It’s had a huge impact on existing providers and it’s not hard to imagine this change making some big waves in aged care.

And then everyone knows there isn’t enough funding for all this change (something even the two Royal Commissioners managed to agree on). While it takes a taskforce to manage the politics of choosing between a new tax or increasing the current user contributions, we reckon it’s a fair bet they will go with the approach the Minister can get done. Albo, does the timing seem right for a new tax? If not, then expect a change to user contributions, so a big change for our pricing approaches and back of house ops.

So much change, so much detail. Many of us studying the Aged care reform ‘roadmap’ have had a lot of trouble working out which road to take. It’s really confusing. Buckle up for 2024, because travelling using a roadmap in such conditions has got to be pretty dangerous. Stay safe.

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Roland Naufal

Roland has built (and at times threatened) his career by being outspoken about things that matter. He has over three decades of experience – from aged care CEO and Age Friendly Cities expert to the founder of DSC, Australia’s best known NDIS educators. This led him to ask the question: if radical honesty worked for Australia’s disability sector, then why not aged care, too? And here we are, folks.

Paul Sadler

Few people have as much experience in the aged care sector as Paul. 35 years, to be exact. He’s been a national and state CEO of aged care industry associations, CEO of a major aged care provider, and influencer of ageing policy, disability and community care programs for both national and state governments. He actually enjoys staying on top of the detail and is always ready to share his wisdom and insights (which comes in kind of handy).