LORETTA RYAN, ABC: But let's look at the Federal Government's major changes to aged care announced yesterday. So what do you need to know? If you're a self-funded retiree or a part time pensioner, you're likely to be paying more for aged care in the future. The plan is for these changes to take effect for new entrants to aged care from 1 July, but those currently in care won't be affected. Also, the reforms backed by the Coalition include an increased investment in home care services so that older Australians can stay in their homes longer.
CRAIG ZONCA, ABC: Okay, well let's get a few more meat- a bit more meat around the bones, so to speak, on these proposals from the Aged Care Minister. Anika Wells, good morning to you.
ANIKA WELLS, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND MINISTER FOR SPORT: Good morning Craig. Good morning Loretta.
ZONCA: How much more will we have to pay to access residential aged care?
WELLS: Well, Craig, it depends on your personal circumstances and what your clinically assessed need is. I would stop you there, though. It's not to access – there still are very strong safety nets for people who cannot afford to pay. They exist in the aged care system currently; they will exist in the aged care system when the new reforms come in.
RYAN: Yeah, I suppose people listening, they're trying to think: okay, is that me? What am I up for? So can you tell us how it works, if they're sitting at home thinking: maybe I'm going to have to pay, but I'm not sure?
WELLS: Absolutely. And if they are able to, on the Health.gov.au website we've got fact sheets and different case studies, so you can look at someone who looks like you or has your personal circumstances to get a sense of what's coming for you. And I'd encourage your listeners to do that. But basically, we're trying to lift the standard of aged care. For two years, we've invested tens of billions of dollars to do that – you know, put the nurses back into nursing homes, 3.9 million additional care minutes going to residents every single day. And we've sequenced this really carefully. We wanted people to actually trust and have faith that we were lifting that standard, and then we put in more transparency and accountability. So anyone today can log on to the aged care website and see in any nursing home in this country what they are spending on food or laundry or staffing or profit. That's called Dollars into Care. So we want people to be confident that you can see where the money is going. And now these new reforms are about making the system sustainable. One- to build all the beds that we need, we need- I think the peak provider was saying yesterday, 20,000 more beds or $56 billion worth of capital. And at the moment, the money is just not there. People are not investing in aged care. They don't see the sector as viable. I'm sure everyone can think of a horror story they remember from the Royal Commission. We've got to turn this sector around. That requires big, ambitious, reform, and that's what we introduced into the Parliament yesterday.
ZONCA: And with paying for it, if you're over the means test cap- and just on the means test, does it take into account the family home? Because a lot of people would be worried about that, given how property prices have increased more recently.
WELLS: No changes to the family home. So the easiest way for your listeners to understand it is we've tried to model – and when I say we, I should say the taskforce. These are recommendations coming out of the Aged Care Taskforce that had people, consumers, advocates, providers, workforce experts on it. These are the recommendations they landed on after six very careful months of deliberation and negotiation. These are negotiated outcomes from all corners of the sector.
ZONCA: So the family home isn't included in that means test is what you're saying.
WELLS: No changes. Yeah, no changes to the family home.
RYAN: Anika Wells, the Aged Care Minister, is with us. So you said that those who are worried and won't be able to afford it, there are means in place for them. What are they?
WELLS: So we have strong safety nets in aged care already, because we don't want people not to be able to access aged care. So they continue, and then additionally, we've announced that- and we've put in the bill into the Parliament yesterday that the Government will cover the cost of your clinical care. And when I say the Government, I should say the taxpayer. That means either in Support at Home or when you do eventually leave your home to go into residential aged care, if that's what happens, we the taxpayer will always pick up the cost of your clinical care, and that's what's been assessed for you. So never have to make a decision about whether to get your wound dressed or not, or whether to see a nurse or have an OT through to help you in your home because you can't afford it. You'll never have to do that. We will always cover that cost.
RYAN: And has that been increased, the amount that will be paid?
WELLS: It depends on your personal circumstances, and it depends on when you enter the system. But I think what's important for people to remember when they're thinking about this is, we're only asking you to make a co-contribution towards the services you actually use. Contributions exist in the system at the moment- there's lots of people in home care that currently pay a contribution towards the cost of their care, but it's just a flat fee. It's a pretty blunt instrument, so I understand and I've heard people say to me they don't really understand why they're paying that or where the money is going. So now when you make a co-contribution, you'll know exactly why. You'll know exactly which service for because that will have been your assessed need.
And the other thing, I think for your listeners, just to try and help them understand like you're saying, in terms of co-contributions in support at home, for every dollar that you are asked to contribute, the taxpayer will still be contributing $7.80 towards the cost of your care.
ZONCA: Yeah, but that's down from what the current proportion is, isn't it?
WELLS: It actually depends. Some people will be paying less of a contribution under the new reforms than what they are currently paying. It will come down- the design of the system is meant to be it looks at you as an individual and what you've asked for, and what a clinical expert has assessed you as needing.
RYAN: In talking about the home care packages, they're increasing from four to eight – is this going to cut down the waiting time that we're seeing currently?
WELLS: There'll be hundreds of thousands of new packages that will be able to be made available, because at the moment the system is really inefficient. I won't bore you with the policy detail, but there's lots of unspent funds that sit across different packages, and regearing the system means that those funds will be freed up for more packages, which, as you said, huge wait list – we desperately need.
RYAN: What about older people living in regional and remote areas? Will they have access to enough in-home services?
WELLS: Yeah, we really are putting our shoulder to the wheel on that, because regional and remote have been some of the worst hitz since COVID. So in the reforms we announced yesterday, which were negotiated through the Aged Care Taskforce and then with the Opposition – so a huge amount of deliberation and contribution from all corners of the country on this one – there will be $300 million for capital to help build and- new wings, new facilities in regional and remote areas. That's on top of a program we already have where we try and particularly help out regional remote areas. So 300 million for that, and 600 million for areas of workforce shortages, because obviously the whole sector has huge workforce shortages. That's probably the biggest issue in aged care. But we have $600 million going particularly to areas of workforce shortage places like regional and remote Australia.
ZONCA: 7.21 – a question coming through. Minister, from Janette of Brighton, who says: I was told I can't get aged care help in my home because there are no workers. And this has been the challenge as well. You talk about funding these extra in-home support packages. Where are the workers coming from?
WELLS: Well, morning, Janette – should be one of my constituents. She's right in that there are huge shortages across the country, not just in aged care, but NDIS, veterans’ affairs. People are expecting a higher standard of care, they deserve a higher standard of care, and we need to recruit more workers. And that's why one of the biggest- certainly the biggest thing I've done this term until yesterday was the $11.3 billion pay rise for aged care workers. That's had a huge difference. I just had the CEO of one our rural and remote providers tell me last week that his staff turnover was 40 per cent before the pay rise. It's dropped to 20 per cent since the pay rise, and we've got more pay rises on the way.
ZONCA: Anika Wells, appreciate your time as we try to talk through the details of these major reforms. There's still a lot more to be uncovered as we go through the detail of this package that has been negotiated between the Government and the Coalition. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
WELLS: My pleasure.
ZONCA: Anika Wells, the Aged Care Minister.