The draft bill for the upcoming Aged Care Act has ignited significant debate due to provisions that could permit young people with disabilities to be placed in residential aged care facilities. This shift appears to undermine years of advocacy aimed at preventing such placements, potentially rolling back progress made in disability care.
Under the new legislation, the criteria for eligibility in aged care facilities now include a clause that could open the door for younger individuals with disabilities to be admitted. Specifically, the bill allows for individuals aged 50 and older to be considered for residential care if they are deemed “homeless or at risk of homelessness.”
This clause has been criticised for providing a loophole that could facilitate the placement of younger people with disabilities into nursing homes.
Dr Bronwyn Morkham, the national director of Young People in Nursing Homes, expressed serious concerns about these developments in an exclusive interview with The Saturday Paper. Morkham highlighted the potential repercussions of the new legislation, noting that it could enable practices that were previously unofficial but are now given legal backing.
“What was once an unofficial practice will now have support in law,” Morkham explained. “We were formed to prevent this very issue. This shift threatens to undo decades of hard work and bipartisan efforts aimed at keeping young people out of nursing homes.”
The draft bill’s inclusion of this clause is seen as particularly troubling because it may inadvertently incentivise institutions and agencies like hospitals and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to shift the burden of care onto the aged care sector.
Morkham argues that this move could lead to an increase in the number of younger people with disabilities being placed in aged care facilities, as it simplifies the process for institutions to bypass alternative, more appropriate support systems.
Since the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s 2021 recommendation to phase out the placement of individuals under 65 in nursing homes by 2025, progress has been sluggish. At the end of 2023, nearly 1,500 young people with disabilities still resided in aged care facilities. In just the last quarter of 2023, 42 young individuals entered these facilities. Morkham is sceptical about the government’s commitment to addressing this issue.
“The draft bill’s lack of a clear definition for homelessness and its broad criteria create a loophole that could be exploited,” she said.
The Aged Care Act’s draft bill includes provisions for people aged 50 to 64, suggesting that these individuals might qualify for aged care if they face “exceptional circumstances” without needing to explore all other support options first. This relaxation of requirements for younger individuals is seen as a potential pathway for more placements into residential care.
In response to these concerns, a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Aged Care assured The Saturday Paper that the new legislation is not intended to expand access to aged care for younger people but rather to formalise existing exceptional circumstances.
The spokesperson stated, “The proposed provisions represent the next step in achieving our goal of eliminating residential aged care as an option for younger people. These provisions codify what is already understood about exceptional circumstances.”
Despite these assurances, Morkham and other advocates fear that the new legislative framework may not adequately prevent the misuse of the aged care system. They stress the need for robust alternative support systems and clearer legislative guidelines to ensure that aged care remains a last resort, rather than an easily accessible option for younger individuals with disabilities.
As the debate continues, it is clear that the legislative changes pose a critical challenge to the progress made in disability care. The coming months will be pivotal in determining whether the new Aged Care Act will reinforce the commitment to keeping young people out of residential aged care or risk reversing years of hard-won advancements in the field
