Spotlight on the aged care workforce

Surely Scott Morrison didn’t need ABC’s Four Corners to inform him that the aged care sector is a national disgrace. Prime minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a royal commission into aged care quality and safety surprised everyone, including the aged care minister, Ken Wyatt, who, until recently denied the need for one. We still do... Read More

The Governor-General was handed the report of the aged care royal commission on Friday. It will be made public in the coming week. Overlaying its considerations has been Australia’s 909 deaths from COVID-19, more than two-thirds of them (685) people in aged care facilities. It has to be recognised that COVID accounts for an extremely small share of deaths in Australia, and even deaths of senior citizens. 127,082 Australians aged 70 and over died in 2019. To date 851 in that age group have died of COVID. Some good might come from these sad deaths if they prompted us to think about where we are likely to die. Read More

Aged care oversight and regulation should be removed from government control, so long as no aged care providers or peak bodies have roles on governing bodies, an aged care expert has proposed. Read More