The Retirement Living Council (RLC) is urging the Australian Government to draw on the power of retirement communities by reimagining how it funds and delivers home care services to older Australians.
In its submission to the Government ahead of the May Budget, the RLC is calling for the introduction of a ‘Shared Care’ framework, which would see retirement living communities funded to provide home care services directly to residents living in their villages.
RLC Executive Director Daniel Gannon said retirement living communities are “perfectly placed” to help provide home care services to support their residents to live healthy, independent lives for longer.
“With the number of Australians over the age of 75 set to grow by 70% by 2040, it’s not possible to talk about the future of care and the demand for these services without considering the important housing and health value proposition of the retirement living industry,” he said.
“The reality is that hundreds of thousands of Aussies call a retirement community home, and the policy approach to home care should reflect that.
“We can’t address the aged care crisis by simply throwing more and more tax dollars at it, and then privately funded retirement living sector is ready and willing to play its part […] Some of these people are waiting for up to a year to access home care funding, and sadly a third of this
funding is lost to administration fees before it can be used.”
“Retirement communities can deliver better outcomes, experiences and value for older Australians accessing care – and there are benefits for Government too.
Mr Gannon said the RLC has prepared a new framework – Shared Care – to deliver greater efficiencies for consumers, government, and care providers.
“This report paves a path for government to make the delivery of home care almost 20% more efficient, meaning that older Australians would receive more care per dollar invested,” Mr Gannon said.
“These efficiencies would ultimately save the commonwealth up to $100 million per year, which is a win- win for consumers and Government alike.”
Mr Gannon said these models have been developed to show that significant efficiencies and savings to consumers and Government because retirement villages provide scale for delivering these services efficiently and cost effectively by reducing travel costs incurred by service providers, increasing the frequency of service delivery, and enhancing the quality and suite of services by leveraging those already in place at these communities.
View the RLC’s full Federal Budget submission here.
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