Better health and ageing for all Australians

Consumer Engagement in the Aged Care Reform Process

Introduction

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Alzheimer’s Australia was commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) to undertake consumer consultations based on the Productivity Commission (PC)’s report Caring for older Australians. These consultations aimed to:

  • provide the community with information about the report and aged care reform;
  • gather feedback and information from consumers;
  • highlight any emerging concerns from consumers; and
  • enable Alzheimer’s Australia to provide this feedback to DoHA.
Sixteen consultations were held across Australia in capital cities, regional centres as well as consultations for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) communities. Attendance ranged from 30-200 people. It is estimated that over 1000 people attended the consultations in total. An online survey was also developed to enable those unable to attend the consultations to provide comments, and there were approximately 200 responses to that survey.

The approach taken to the consultations was to encourage participants to tell their story rather than focus on the PC’s report.

Location and dates of consultations are below:
DateLocationType of consultation
13 October 2011Canberra Parliament House, ACTNational
17 October 2011Merimbula, NSWRegional
18 October 2011Canberra, ACTGeneral
19 October 2011Sydney, NSWGeneral
20 October 2011Brisbane, QLD (Minister attended)General
21 October 2011Sydney, NSWCALD
25 October 2011Adelaide, SA (Minister attended)General
26 October 2011Geelong, VicRegional
27 October 2011Melbourne, Vic (Minister attended)General
27 October 2011Melbourne, Vic (Minister attended)CALD
28 October 2011Hobart , TasGeneral
31 October 2011Darwin consult, NTGeneral
1 November 2011Alice Springs, NTAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
2 November 2011Alice Springs, NTGLBTI
3 November 2011Perth, WAGeneral and GLBTI
4 November 2011Mandurah, WARegional
This report provides an overview of the main themes that were highlighted in the general, CALD, GLBTI, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and regional consultations. Each consultation was recorded, and input was also sought from consumers that did not speak at the event through written comment forms. These comments and responses to the survey have been compiled and included in the key findings and are summarised in this report. Detailed notes from each consultation are provided in the appendices.

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