Govt `ignoring aged care crisis`

The recent allocation of aged care beds shows the industry is in crisis, the Aged Care Association of Australia says.
Figures from Minister Justine Elliot at the weekend show four states and territories are under-subscribed - in Western Australia applications were received for only 50 per cent of the beds allocated.
While there were 1,208 nursing home beds available, industry providers applied for just 536.
In the ACT 169 were available and 136 were sought, in the Northern Territory there were no applications for 24 beds available, and in Tasmania there were only 53 applications for 131 places.
"We've been warning the federal government that this would occur," Aged Care Association chief executive Anne-Marie Archer said on Tuesday.
"Because of the funding and the construction costs and the increase in the operational costs versus the indexation on what they're actually receiving ...
providers actually have no business case.
"They're effectively going broke - 44 per cent of the industry ran at a loss last year."
The federal government says it has provided zero-interest loans to the sector in WA and Tasmania, with round two to target the Northern Territory.
"You've got the minister of the day saying the industry's great, there's record levels of funding ... but the reality is the industry's (saying it's) not (great) ... particularly in WA," Ms Archer said.
"The whole issue of consumer choice is lost."
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert says the government's funding formula needs to
urgently be changed.
She says elderly Australians are now choosing to stay at home until they are
extremely frail, meaning 72 per cent of new residents in nursing homes need high
levels of care.
"At the same time, service providers are having difficulties attracting staff, and
have serious concerns about both the short- and the long-term viability of Aged Care
services in WA," Senator Siewert said in a statement.
In Canberra, Federal Aged Care Minister Justine Elliot said her government was
well-placed to meet the challenges of an ageing population.
A spokesperson for Mrs Elliott said the government was investing a record amount in
aged care in Western Australia.
There were more than 14,000 residential care places in the state, and aged care
providers would receive about $547 million this year.
There were also zero interest loans available to target areas of high need.
The spokesperson said the government was investing a record amount in aged care
nationally.
"The industry will benefit from the more than $41.6 billion they will receive over
the next four years," the spokesperson said.