The tragic deaths of an elderly Queensland couple last week have brought to light deep-seated fears about aged care in Australia. The couple, an 81-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife, were found deceased in their apartment at the Magic Mountain complex in Miami on the Gold Coast.
Investigating by the authorities seems to indicate that they took their own lives to avoid being moved into a care home.
Detective Inspector Mark Mooney confirmed that the couple’s adult daughter had travelled from interstate to assist them with their transition into an aged care facility in Victoria. Upon returning to their home, she made the devastating discovery.
“There was a typed message (left at the scene),” Mooney said. “We are still trying to determine the veracity, (but) the note indicates they were not interested in moving into a home.”
The couple, who had lived on the Gold Coast for over 20 years, were both struggling with poor health. Mooney stated that the woman had dementia, while her husband had recently been discharged from hospital after suffering from hip issues that had impacted his mobility.
Despite initial concerns, police found no evidence of violence at the scene, and there was no history of domestic incidents involving the couple. Their only prior interaction with law enforcement dated back to a burglary they reported in 2001.
Aged Care: A System Under Scrutiny
This heartbreaking event has reignited concerns about Australia’s aged care system and the anxieties many older Australians feel about entering institutional care. The 2021 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety exposed significant failings, including cases of neglect and abuse, which have left many older Australians fearful of what awaits them in residential facilities.
Although reforms are being introduced, including the new Aged Care Act set to take effect from 1 July 2024, progress has been slow. Recent data from the Queensland Aged Care Home Star Ratings Guide showed that a third of facilities in the state had performed worse than the previous year.
While many saw improvements, Older Persons Advocacy Network CEO Craig Gear expressed concerns that the ratings did not necessarily reflect the quality of care, warning they could give older Australians a “false sense of security.”
Aged care should be a place of comfort, dignity, and security, yet too often, it is seen as a last resort – a sentiment tragically reflected in the note left behind by the deceased couple.
Their deaths serve as a sobering reminder of the urgent need to rebuild trust in the system and ensure that aged care is not feared but embraced as a viable option for those in need.
The Broader Conversation: Voluntary Assisted Dying and Quality of Life
While discussions around aged care reform continue, the case also raises questions about voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in Australia. Currently, individuals with dementia are ineligible for VAD due to their lack of decision-making capacity, despite it being one of the most feared diagnoses among older Australians.
As the population ages, it is critical to explore refining available solutions that allow individuals to make decisions about their end-of-life care.
If you or someone you know is in distress, please seek help from support services such as Lifeline (13 11 14), Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), or the Suicide Callback Service (1300 659 467).
Only by living and I mean either living, working or volunteering in Aged Care can anyone realise that the fear of this dear couple can be very well founded in very many cases. Well intentioned academics, politicians, bureacrats and even families can lay down great plans without true recognition of the lack of progress, of the actual level of quality of life in “Care”. The Royal Commission certainly did a great job of presenting the failures of the system. What a pity that very few of their recommendations are being truly implemented. How many grass roots level workers in Aged Care are of the same opinion as this couple? ??? It would be amazing to do a truthful poll on the subject!
Agree! What’s worse is the claims that the new aged care act will FIX aged care. Considering what I’ve been witness to in the last few weeks, I see how they will achieve it which is basically through intimidation, fear and coercive control!
ACQSC now blocking individuals from raising complaints with accusations of harassment and abuse towards workers. Of course no view as to why an individual might behave that way however many have proven the accusations to be unfounded with no evidence provided. Additionally, family members that have had restraining orders and restrictions of access to their loved ones who reside in a facility because they observed something that caused them to raise a concern and complaint not addressed by the facility and continually reoccurring.
There is NOTHING that anyone can do about it either.
These and many other real problems have not even been considered in the new act and individuals who want to have their rights upheld have had their hands tied thanks to a clauses that waivers fault and responsibility to u able recourse through litigation by individuals.
ACQSC now blocking individuals from raising complaints with accusations of harassment and abuse towards workers
Hi Christina.
I have a complaint about my provider, with the ACQSC at the moment. Could you please elaborate on your statement about.
Regards James Styles
The problem is with “academics, politicians, bureaucrats” because they have no idea of what aged CARE really means or what it needs. We have had so many Inquiries, Reviews etc. and Ministers for Aged Care bleating about how they are going to improve things – wasn’t the previous Minister Anika Wells a prime example of that – and how abysmally has she and all the others failed. Theory and Practice – nere the twain shall meet.
The Royal Commission made many valid and useful recommendations but have they been implemented ? Well, we all know the answer to that don’t we. The sad fact is that public servants have no clue as to what should be done, really do not care and are not the right people to administer the system. If they did, we would not be in such a mess and for so long. There is a canker throughout the industry and “industry” it is, especially for those who know how to unfairly line their pockets. Directors of Nursing that I have seen are a disgrace – it is just another well paying job . If I repeated what some of them said about the “old people” you would be incredulous. They consider “families” as an interruption and nuisance to their day. Those people bring shame to the industry and to those who do not deserve to share in it. There have been some very good nursing homes that should be used as an example and rewarded for it and not lumped in with the majority which do not deserve to be called “nursing homes”.
On a bus, twice recently, I have seen a young “carer” who has a blind man as her charge. Each time I have seen her pull his jumper and push him towards the exit and left him to manoeuvre the stairs all by himself. The third time I saw her acting in such a careless manner I told her she had to take the mans arm and physically guide him towards the entrance and not push him around like an old rag. For her, it was water off a duck’s back. This is an example of the “skilled” migrants our govt. is importing here. The only job they can get is in aged care after they have completed a lightweight number of sessions to receive an Aged Care Certificate. Some really are great AINs, there is no denying it, but most of them are not. I have the greatest sympathy for those wonderful nurses who really do care but have to leave because they cannot mentally tolerate seeing the substandard way the elderly residents are treated and their surroundings.
The fact is UNLESS AND UNTIL the Aged Care Industry and the HUMANS it purports to care for are given the RESPECT they deserve, is looked upon an area of care that requires specialised services with professionally qualified people, then you will continue to see the good qualified nurses resign in despair
and no professional interested in entering this area of care. Without respect for the care of the elderly, the staff, the residents and all those involved including families, no worthwhile change or improvement will occur. It will be just window dressing as usual and the rot will continue to fester. There must be accountability, there must be consequences for failures and there must be a good standard of care which must NEVER be diminished at any level.
Unless you have a bag full of dollars to pay for quality care and living circumstances, which you can receive at a high cost, then the rest of the institutions will continue to fall short of what should be a good standard rather than a lowly subsistence level. Still, I suppose public servants on mega dollars really don’t care because their golden handshakes will always provide them with the best care anyway for the rest of their lives so where is the incentive to do any better.
The old adage of “a fish rots from the top” applies very much in Aged Care. That is where the blame rests
because they ALLOW the canker to fester. They allow abuses to go unpunished. They allow ineffective govt. agencies to proliferate as a smoke and mirror for the govt.’s failure to take account and control of what is so wrong across the board of so called aged CARE. The public is powerless because the govt. has rendered them so and that is why the govt. does nothing. There is no really effective help from Govt. agencies because of their very carefully worded MOUs. What duplicity and a pathetic waste of taxpayers money
Just the simple fact that people prefer to end their lives than to go into nursing institutions says it all. Proof of that statement can be found anywhere not least in the recent news where an elderly and frail
couple did just that. What a sad indictment of our Govt. that pretends to care about its citizens, particularly its most vulnerable. As for VAD well, wouldn’t that be a nice way to get rid of the elderly. If someone really wanted to end their lives, there are many ways to do it. VAD might sound as if it could be a good thing but like all things it would be very much open to abuse. It wasn’t in my time but many will remember Chelmford and other cases like it so I would say “Look before you Leap” when pushing the barrel for end of life decisions.
I work in Aged Care and we old school nurses know it has many failings. And still does. I struggle mentally with it every shift I do and I know older ppl who wish VAD existed. I moved interstate to keep my father out of a residential setting, and sure as eggs I will never want to be in one. My family are aware. It’s sad. Aged Care was NOT like it is now 20-30 years ago.
This will happen more and more unless aged care facilities can show they are better staffed and run.
there seems to be a rise of families wanting to put parents into care facilities with or with out their cooperation. this is elder abuse.
We have to make aged care at home more accessable and quicker to organise.
We in australia have and continue to fail our elderly. third wold countries are better at caring for thier elders.
We should be ashamed of our care of our elders.
The reason why VAD is a feared diagnosis is based on the failings of the Aged Care sector that is becoming worse by the day! Additionally the stigma that assists in society that a diagnosis is the beginning of a long death. This very poor message delivered by the associations who are meant to support those with the diagnosis.
The health industry does not mandate training accross the board for those who actually work and provide daily assistance to those with the disease. They are not trained to have the skills that will improve the quality at which they delver the assistance daily.
Instead of having workers complaining because the only official training they ever had was on the job exposure or exposure from assisting someone in the family, is comparable to attempting to communicate with someone who speaks a completely different language. Even basic training and understanding of the disease and its progression (not based on observation alone) would assist. Using and being taught skills that many would not naturally consider and not based on those not qualified to train, training others!
On a basic level, it’s worth remembering and reminding everyone that those with Alzheimer’s are still people, they are HUMAN, they have emotions and can show they are happy, sad, angry, hungry, scared, frustrated, lonely. They can still smile, laugh, cry and feel pain. So why are we so quick to favor allowing VAD.
Society stigma requires reprogramming because the impact would not only improve the views of those with the diagnosis, but also those who currently view providing assistance more as burdensome and time consuming, even as a frustrating chore over one of compassion and assistance.
It’s heartbreaking bearing witness to the poor reality of misguided stigma associated to the disease and the individual with it. Life is not always about memories or future. It is about today, right now, this moment. So what if your parent forgets your name or who you are, they still raised you!