NIKOLAI BEILHARZ, HOST: Well today, the Federal Government has announced funding to try and get more beds into the system to the tune $115 million. The Federal Minister for Aged Care and Seniors is Sam Rae, with us this afternoon. Minister, thank you for your time.
SAM RAE, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIORS: Good afternoon, Nikolai, thanks for having me.
BEILHARZ: Before we get to the specifics of the funding, do you accept that argument from the State Government that one of the reasons the hospital system is under such pressure is because of a lack of places for people to go?
RAE: Well, I think, first of all, we have to look at what we're trying to achieve here, Nikolai. We want every Australian to be able to access safe, dignified and high-quality aged care. It's what the announcement is about today. In fact, it's what all of the reform process that we've been going through over the last three years at a federal level has been about. Now, I don't particularly appreciate, I respectfully understand that some people use that term you used. We do have an issue around delayed discharge in the hospital system. But I think we need to be careful about our language because older people have just as much right to access health services when they're sick and in need of care as anybody else. But that said, we certainly don't want older people languishing in hospitals if there are better models of care that we can get them into. And that's what this $115 million injection into hotspots is all about, to try and get more aged care beds on the ground in the community as quickly as possible.
BEILHARZ: And is that why Adelaide has been selected as one of the hotspots? Because things are particularly under pressure here.
RAE: The delayed discharge issue is a long-standing issue, and it's a national issue and in fact, Nikolai, an international issue. These sort of pressures are existing in hospitals all around the world. They've got to do with ageing populations, they've got to do with some hangovers from COVID, as well as some other factors along the way as well. So it's not an Adelaide or a South Australian specific issue. Adelaide has been chosen as one of the four hotspots based on a range of considerations. We took a methodical approach to understanding where the need was greatest for this immediate capital injection. This is one part of a much broader set of interventions that we're making. We're reforming the aged care system and we've invested over a billion dollars in the last three and a half years in these capital investments to lift supply. We're continuing to do that and this is just a later step.
BEILHARZ: But when you say the need is greatest, then surely that does mean that things are worse here than in some other parts of the country? Acknowledging that it's an issue everywhere, but it's maybe felt more acutely in Adelaide than some other places.
RAE: The issue in Adelaide that's really driving the hotspot nature of it is we've got population dynamics, we've got an ageing population, and frankly, we've had for the last decade or so a more stagnant pipeline of projects, and that's what this money is about. There's $115 million to unlock these projects and to accelerate the delivery of these beds that we know can get the best care for older people.
BEILHARZ: So it's $115 million across four of these kind of hotspots, Adelaide, Illawarra, Perth and the Hunter. Is it split evenly? Adelaide will get about $29 million?
RAE: That's the intention, that we get a roughly even split. We're going to run an expression of interest process in each of those regions so we can understand what projects are out there. We've got a pretty good idea of what the opportunities are, but we don't want to leave any stone unturned here, so we'll run the EOI process. The intention is that we'll distribute that money roughly proportionately between the four hotspots so we get as many beds as quickly as possible, and to make sure that the care that is provided is extremely high quality.
BEILHARZ: And so that money, does it directly go towards the construction of new facilities? That's where it will be spent?
RAE: It can go towards the construction of new facilities. It can go towards the augmentation of existing facilities. Whatever is the quickest, most effective way to bring on new beds and to provide that high-quality care for older people in the community.
BEILHARZ: So how many- what's your expectation? How many beds would $29 million get you in Adelaide?
RAE: Look, I don't want to start putting numbers on those things. I want us to be really ambitious about what we can achieve. We'll work really closely with the sector to get the very best bang for our buck. We want to make sure, as I said, that we get as many beds as possible as quickly as possible.
BEILHARZ: We have, of course, on the program been speaking about this for a long time, and I know certainly some of the kind of estimates that people in the industry have provided is that it can cost $600,000 to $700,000 per bed, overall, in terms of all the construction costs and commissioning and all that side of things. While $29 million is a lot in one sense, if it is $700,000 a bed, that's about 40 beds. Is that going to make a big difference?
RAE: Well, again, this is about unlocking projects. So what we've got in the pipeline offer, Nikolai, are a number of projects that might be fairly large in their own right, $20 and $30 million projects, but they're $5 million short of delivering their economic benefit. And so what this is about is unlocking as many of those projects as possible, potentially topping up the last bit of those projects that are ready to go, almost shovel-ready, just need that last little bit of money to get them over the line and get as many beds on the ground as possible.
BEILHARZ: And in terms of the timeline, what are your hopes, given if some of these are almost shovel-ready, that those facilities could be completed and occupied?
RAE: Well, we'll be opening the EOI process next week for Adelaide and for the Illawarra. The Hunter and the Perth EOI will come a few weeks down the line from there. But we're going to be running this very hard and fast. As I said, we've identified these hotspots. I want to get the money into the system, I want to get them- get these beds available for older people as soon as possible, so we won't be wasting any time on it.
BEILHARZ: And what are your hopes for how far this particular initiative will go towards that issue of delayed discharge and people not having somewhere to go?
RAE: Like I said, this is one of many interventions. This is a complex issue and there's no silver bullet. I mean, hard problems rarely have easy answers, Nikolai. What we've got to do is keep working with the state governments, which we've been doing very effectively, to find solutions to keep knocking down the hurdles to make sure that older people can get that best care.
BEILHARZ: Minister, thank you so much for your time this afternoon.
RAE: Thank you, Nikolai.