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Old age is relatively a new factor in the history of the human race. Major
improvement in medical technology and health awareness allows us to live longer
and healthier. Moreover the opportunities for women and men have increased
such as employment and travel. Others spend their time longer on education or
they spend more time living their lives as a single person. With this, many women
and men are starting families at later ages than before and as a result besides the
effect of family planning, fewer babies are being born while the older populations
are getting older.

As people live longer in Australia, the high cost of supporting them in their
later life have a significant impact on funding and delivery services. Thus the
trends in age care has changed considerably over the past decade which was
driven by combination of demographics, changing care needs, increased funding
for community care and restructuring by service providers. In addition to this
recent trends, there are also increasing numbers of older Australians requiring
care of which the growth has driven a large increased in the number of subsidized
care places wherein in 1996, there were around 141 282 operational residential
and equivalent community care places in Australia. Thus, the aged care funding by
the Australian state and territory governments increased by $4.4 billion in 1995 -
1996 to $8.6 billion in 2006 ʹ 2007. Furthermore, there has been a shift towards
greater private funding of aged care services. As part of the structural reform of
the residential age care sector in 1997, accommodation payments and income
testing of daily care fess which was previously applied only to low level care were
introduced for all residential care. Additionally, residential care providers have
been able to request accommodation bond from clients entering low care or
making use of extra service high care facilities since 1997. Moreover, there is an
increasing emphasis on community care of which the government policy and the
choice of most aged people is to receive assistance in their own residence when
possible. Furthermore, with greater reliance on community care, there has also
been an increased in the support in funding for aged care workers and for respite
services. Like for example the combined payments and allowances for aged care
workers. The trend also presents that older people are more likely to use
residential aged care facilities for high level care compared in the past between
1998 and 2007 of which the proportion of all permanent residents receiving high
care increased from 58 to 70 percent. However, although the number of
residential care places has increased in recent years, the number of aged care
facilities has declined by 4.7 percent from 3,015 in 1998 to 2, 872 in 2007.

Due to the increase of the ageing population, the government͛s

expenditure was greatly affected such as it will create an increased demand for
health, aged care and pension payments that will likely lead to budget deficits, as
aged care is largely publicly funded, although State and Territory governments
also provide some funding for these services . There are also emerging issues
involving localized and regional patterns of ageing, especially in coastal areas
experiencing substantial in-migration of older people where infrastructure is
sufficient and the demand for services by the aged population will exceed the
supply potential of the labour force. The survey reveals that the support of the
elderly requires an enormous workforce which demands attention which
currently around 10% of persons over 70 years of age are in institutional care
costing about $40,000 per year. Thus the need and focus on the potential of the
workforce required to cope with the care of the aged and disabled population of
Australia. These challenges, however are not only macroeconomic and fiscal
based but also personal and social.

Amendments were taken of which the purpose of the legislation changes is

to amend the Aged Care Act of 1997 (the Act), the Aged Care Principles of 1997
and the Aged Care Act of 2006 (the Bond Security Act) to address the current
legislative inadequacies and maintain effective regulatory safeguards for ensuring
high quality care for older Australians. The amendments have also made some
minor, operational changes to improve the administration of the legislation so
that it operates more efficiently and effectively. While there may be some costs
to the aged care sector as the result of the implementation of some of the
changes, they are expected to be minimal. Other measures are expected to lead
to efficiencies and savings so that on balance there is likely to be a minimal
financial impact. Most of these reforms commenced last January 2009 with
specified provisions not taking effect until July 2009 allowing for a transition
period and the implementation of system changes. Furthermore, all of the
amendments are ultimately designed to better protect and benefit aged care
recipients.

References:

2Ê CHCA 318A work effectively with older people

2Ê CEDA Policy Statement, 2004, www.ceda.com.au
2Ê The Impact of an Ageing Population, www.wesleymission.org.au
2Ê Legislative changes relevant to the Aged Care Assessment Program,
www.health.gov.au

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: Diana K. Chapyosen