The question of whether the threat of jail time could rectify the numerous issues plaguing Australia’s aged care sector has become a focal point of recent debates. In a discussion on the 7am podcast, The Saturday Paper’s senior reporter Rick Morton spoke with aged care advocate Sarah Holland-Batt about the potential impact of new laws proposed by the federal government. These laws could see directors and management of aged care facilities jailed for up to five years in particularly egregious cases.
Sarah Holland-Batt’s journey into aged care advocacy began when her father, an engineer and a lover of arts and philosophy, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Initially, Holland-Batt and her mother focused on the aesthetics of aged care homes, unaware of the critical importance of staff qualifications and care standards. It wasn’t long before they encountered the darker side of aged care: deliberate abuse by a personal care worker.
“Dad experienced some deliberate abuse from a worker,” Holland-Batt recounted. “We were alerted by a nurse who was a whistleblower. She had seen this person belittling Dad, deliberately shutting the door on him when he needed to shower, when he wasn’t clean. I’ve never been more furious about anything in my life.”
Royal Commission Findings and Ongoing Issues
In 2018, then Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a Royal Commission into aged care, revealing widespread abuse in residential facilities and home care providers. Despite the harrowing findings and recommendations, advocates like Holland-Batt argue that little has improved in the three years since the final report was handed down.
“My submission [to the Royal Commission] focused on the inadequate regulation of aged care and the lack of advocacy for vulnerable people,” Holland-Batt said. “Even someone like myself, capable of understanding and pursuing issues, couldn’t get a reasonable outcome. The system is deeply broken.”
The government’s new Aged Care Act aims to introduce criminal penalties for egregious failures in care. These penalties could include jail time for directors and management in cases involving significant failures, systemic patterns of misconduct, or reckless conduct resulting in death, serious injury, or illness.
“I think the introduction of criminal penalties is positive,” Holland-Batt said. “It’s a sector that really needs consequences. There’ve been no consequences for providers who fail and cause heartbreak for families.”
However, Holland-Batt expressed concerns about the draft legislation’s enforceability. “The statement of rights in the draft legislation is not enforceable. There’s no obligation on providers to provide high-quality care. Instead, there’s just a duty to not actively harm older people, which is insufficient.”
Aged Care Lobbying & Accountability
The proposed changes have faced resistance from the aged care lobby, which argues that increased regulation and penalties could deter good people from directing aged care homes. Opposition spokesperson Anne Ruston has also voiced concerns, suggesting that the demands on the sector could be unrealistic.
“The lobby’s talking points are beyond farce,” Holland-Batt retorted. “They argue for less regulation and more money, resisting any moves to create guardrails around staffing levels or workforce professionalisation.”
Despite the challenges, Holland-Batt remains hopeful that the introduction of criminal penalties could bring much-needed accountability to the sector. “If you ask the average person, should those responsible for neglect go to jail, most would agree. It meets community expectations and provides a lever to punish individuals in the worst instances.”
As the new Aged Care Act heads to parliament, the debate continues. Advocates like Holland-Batt stress the importance of enforceable rights and real consequences for those who fail to provide adequate care. Whether the threat of jail time will be enough to fix aged care remains to be seen, but it is a step towards holding providers accountable and ensuring better protection for Australia’s elderly population.
Whilst I understand the need for accountability and in some cases penalties, jail time for managers is misplaced and will drive Registered Nurses and Managers out of the sector. The Organisations set the budgets, staffing levels and policies for the facilities and the managers are trying to do the best they can with dismal resources. It is near impossible to recruit “good” staff, let alone “exceptional and excellent” staff. Aged care is an industry that we know is terribly under resourced. Every week I wonder why I still work in an industry that no one seems to care about, let alone respect.
Unfortunately Aged Care residents and recipients of Home Care are still considered by some Providers to be “training aids” that can be used by to train staff. Almost zero consequences for neglect or abuse. Directors and Senior Managers need serious consequences for their personal failure to adequately resource their Care businesses.
I an remember the CEO (or similar title) of a very large Provider telling the Royal Commission that he did not consider it his role to enquire into the almost 300 complaints of sexual assault in their Aged Care facilities.
Vulnerable people have been, and continue to be, poorly treated in Aged Care. Consequences are needed and Australian Governments have never had the fortitude required to actually do it.