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Living Longer. Living Better.

Living Longer. Living Better – Consumer Support and Research

Printable PDF version of Consumer Support and Research (PDF 30 KB)

May 2012

Key Points:

Through the Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package, the Government will provide $39.8 million over five years for better consumer support and to improve research.

Older Australians in aged care need to maintain links with the community, be empowered to have a greater say in the way their care is provided and to understand and exercise their rights.

It is important that older people receiving care are able to resolve concerns with the quality and type of aged care services they receive. Advocacy plays a key role in helping people to represent themselves, and to assist those who are unable to act on their own behalf. Organisations supported through the Government’s National Aged Care Advocacy Program provide older people and their families with opportunities to have a greater say in the way care is provided to them and to better understand and exercise their rights.

The Government’s Community Visitors Scheme aims to decrease social isolation and loneliness, including through the use of technology to facilitate and support interactive relationships between volunteers and aged care recipients.

As part of the Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package, the Government will provide $30.8 million over five years to:

• increase the capacity of the National Aged Care Advocacy Program. Older people and their families will be provided with opportunities to have a greater say in the way care is provided to them and to better understand and exercise their rights. Increased funding will also support additional training sessions for aged care providers and their staff so they can better understand and support the rights of aged care recipients.
• expand the Community Visitors Scheme to provide more social support to older Australians. This will help meet unmet demand and will expand the role of the Community Visitors Scheme to include visits to people receiving assistance through Home Care packages and group visits in residential aged care.

The Government recognises the need to continually improve the care and support offered to older people. Key to this is to enable access to improved research and planning tools to develop aged care policy and programs and to assist providers to better plan where to develop their services.

There is limited publicly available data and policy relevant evidence in the area of aged care. A strong evidence base is essential for providing the best possible outcomes in public policy for the community.

As part of the Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package, - the Government will provide $9.1 million over five years to:

• establish an aged care Data Clearing House within the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare to provide data to a range of stakeholders including policy makers, researchers and consumers.
• expand the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) and increases its frequency so that it is conducted every three years rather than every six years. This will improve the scope of comprehensive and independent assessments that can be made of the aged care system and its interface with the health and community sector.

Implementation arrangements:

Grants to expand the National Aged Care Advocacy Program and the Community Visitors Scheme will be made available from 2013-14.

Funding will be provided to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare to enable them to establish an aged care Data Clearing House from 1 July 2013.

Funding to expand the SDAC will be provided to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Development work for the 2015 SDAC will start 2013-14.

Better support for consumers and research

The Government is delivering on its commitment to make aged care reform a second term priority, with a reform package that provides $3.7 billion over the next five years. This includes $39.8 million over five years for consumer support and research. This funding is on top of current initiatives, including:

• A projected $47 million over five years to provide one-to-one Community Visitors Scheme services in residential aged care.
• A projected $14 million over five years for the provision of advocacy services and education to aged care service providers.

As part of the conversations on ageing held across Australia, the need for additional research and more to be done to improve the evidence base was highlighted. Provider organisations and researchers also raised the need for better access to information and data to support research across the life course. The need for consumers to be more informed and involved in their care was also raised, including the need for advocacy and support.

Further Information
For more information please visit: www.agedcareaustralia.gov.au