AGED care providers in the Wimmera have said the $17.7 billion over five years put towards the sector in the federal budget does not fully address the issues faced by aged care facilities.
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Sunnyside Lutheran Retirement Village regional manager Stephen Mildred said the funding falls short of the spending required to implement recommendations from the Aged Care Royal Commission.
"On the surface it is a big number and we should be grateful that something is being done about it," he said.
"The reality is that what has been paid is just the initial, almost emergency $10 a day the Aged Care Royal Commission said needed to be paid because things are so bad."
From 2023, staff will be required to spend at least 3 hours and 20 minutes with each aged care resident a day.
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An additional $10 a day per resident will be provided to aged care facilities under the new budget, in line with the royal commission's recommendations.
Mr Mildred said the $10 figure was an emergency amount required to help aged care facilities in the short term. An estimated $30 a day per resident was needed to address key issues affecting the industry.
"They have done what the Aged Care Royal Commission said needed to be done to stop places from going under immediately - and that is it," he said.
"We will now not only be losing money, we will be losing cash if those minutes requirements come in without proper funding.
"And they are trying to say the job is done but it is not. Our frustration is that we provide good care and service and enjoy high occupancy because of our reputation. We will lose money even with that top up. It doesn't actually do enough to address the issue. There are going to be facilities around Australia that don't make it."
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Health Services Union national President Gerard Hayes agreed the funding fell short of what was needed.
"Aged care has been in a chronic crisis for years and this funding package won't change that. This barely makes up for the $10 billion worth of cuts that have been inflicted over the last eight years," he said.
"For carers, therapists and support workers, there is no commitment to permanent, better-paid jobs. Clearly, the government's plan is to continue exploiting the goodwill of an insecure, underpaid workforce of women.
"To properly attract and retain a dedicated workforce, the Government must commit to paying aged care workers more than $21 an hour."
Canberra-based think tank the Centre for Future Work at the Australian Institute tabled a report that found $10 billion a year was necessary to fully implement the 148 recommendations from the Aged Care Royal Commission.
Mr Mildred said if dividing the government's figure of $17.7 billion over five years meant $3.5 billion per year for aged care - a number short of expectations.
"35 per cent of the job has been done according to the royal commission," he said.
"They have done something but it is not enough. The maths isn't even close enough for what it would take."
Aged care industry group Australian Aged Care Collaboration has welcomed the budget figures.
Australian Aged Care Collaboration representative Patricia Sparrow said the response was moving in the right direction.
"This Budget gives real hope to more than 1.3 million Australians currently accessing aged care services, to the 360,000 care staff who provide critical services around the country every day, and to the tens of thousands of Australian workers our sector will need to employ over the coming years to meet the demands of our ageing population," she said.
"Australia now spends half of what comparable countries do on aged care, and while this investment won't close that funding gap entirely, it will provide structural relief in many critical areas."
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