Union fearful of funding change for aged care

As has been widely reported, the Federal Government has announced a new strategy for the delivery of Home and Community Care (HACC) services. Their intention is to take direct control of all services from July 1, 2009, rather than providing each state with partial funding for each service. This has sent shockwaves through local communities across Victoria, with many fearful of a drop in quality to the services provided and to those employed through local governments.

ASU members, family and friends have shown their concerns by sending thousands of emails to Federal Ministers, prompting a meeting between ASU Branch Secretary Brian Parkinson and the relevant Ministers. The meeting wasn’t as fruitful as Parkinson would have liked.

“I met with senior Federal advisers last Thursday and they really just confirmed that they would fund the current arrangements, giving no indication that they would contribute to the additional $160 million supplied by the State and Local governments.”

“This is a decision solely based on reducing the costs and flies in the face of the general consensus that Victoria has the best service delivery in the home and community care sector. Instead of a change, the Victorian model should be introduced to other states. To prove my point, the NSW Auditor General has urged the NSW State Government to implement better in-home support services, which would reduce the need for approximately 300 public hospital beds each year. It should also be noted that the Victorian model has the best turnaround system in regards to getting people out of hospital and back into their home.”

Parkinson also stressed how damaging a federally-funded system could be to the thousands of ASU members who provide this care to thousands of Australians.

“The other major concern that hasn’t been mentioned is the possibility of 3000 ASU members being displaced by a federally-funded aged care system. This would cause a financial burden on Victorian councils due to the amount of redundancies that would take place. We urge the Victorian State Government not to reach consensus at the COAG meeting on October 2.”