$210,000 for local aged care home
Residents in Wattle Hill Lodge in Bunbury will benefit from $210,000 in Australian Government funding presented by the Minister for Ageing Julie Bishop and the Federal Member for Forrest Geoff Prosser.
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Previous Ministers The Hon Geoffrey Prosser
Member for Forrest
| 1 July 2004 | JB104/04 |
$210,000 for local aged care home
Residents in Wattle Hill Lodge in Bunbury will benefit from $210,000 in Australian Government funding presented by Minister for Ageing Julie Bishop and Federal Member for Forrest Geoff Prosser today.
Ms Bishop said the funding was part of more than $513.3 million the Australian Government was providing to aged care homes across Australia to enable them to upgrade building standards and improve fire safety. The funding represents $3,500 per resident in each aged care home.
"This funding, part of the Australian Government's $2.2 billion record funding package Investing in Australia's Aged Care: More Places, Better Care, will mean that residents of Wattle Hill Lodge will continue to receive high quality care in appropriate and safe surroundings," Ms Bishop said.
"It is with great pleasure that I join with Geoff Prosser in presenting this cheque to Wattle Hill Lodge In.
Mr Posser said the funding could be used for a range of fire safety measures, such as installing fire sprinklers, updating fire safety equipment, engaging a professional fire safety consultant or improving fire safety training for staff.
"Wattle Hill Lodge may also use the funding to upgrade buildings to meet the benchmarks set by the 10-year forward plan for 2008 building certification," Mr Prosser said.
If providers have already met these standards, they can use the funding to improve the quality and range of aged care services or pay off debt.
Investing in Australia's Aged Care: More Places, Better Care includes:
- An extra $877.8 million, on top of the annually-indexed care subsidy, to aged care providers to help them continue to provide quality care and pay competitive wages to staff;
- An extra 27,900 new aged care places over the next three years, including 13,030 in 2004-05;
- Almost $1 billion, including $513 million ($3,500 per resident) in June 2004, in extra Australian Government funding for aged care providers to build new homes and upgrade existing ones to meet 2008 standards particularly in relation to fire and safety; and
- More than $100 million for increased education and training opportunities for aged care nurses and other staff, including 1600 new undergraduate nursing places at universities.
"In contrast, the Australian Government has a vision for a world class system of aged care that delivers high quality, affordable, accessible services to meet the individual needs of older Australians here in Bunbury and across our nation.
Media contacts: Rachael Thompson (Ms Bishop) 0417 265 289
Duncan Riley (Mr Prosser) 0412 844 237