Have your say on aged care workforce

 

Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt is urging families, friends, and volunteers, anyone who has had an experience with the aged care industry, to have their voice heard.

The Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce is taking public submissions now to explore short, medium and longer term options to boost supply, address demand and improve productivity for the aged care workforce.

“The experiences I’ve heard from constituents and read in the local media are unacceptable.

“The government wants to hear your experiences. I urge you to get your submissions in now, don’t wait until the closing date,” Mr Pitt said.

“I’ve heard people calling for a royal commission. We don’t need another report after years of community hearings.

“We need something to change now. We can’t sit around and wait years for the result of a Royal Commission and millions of dollars spent that could be invested in helping ease the problem.

“I have met with numerous constituents and taken their concerns to the Minister. The minister has visited the electorate to hear from concerned people first hand.

“I now urge others to have their voice heard. Make a submission in a bid to get positive change.

Concerns can be reported to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner and the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency carries out unannounced audits, such as those that occurred recently which uncovered failings from local aged care providers.

“I urged local aged care advocate Heather Mansell-Brown to bring her meeting on March 15 forward to give people more time to submit their experiences, concerns or issues, but unfortunately she was unable to.”

“We have an older than average demographic in the Hinkler electorate and we need to ensure that our seniors are getting the care that they deserve.”

People can make a submission at: https://consultations.health.gov.au/aged-care-policy-and-regulation/aged-care-workforce-strategy/

If you have any questions about the submission process, please contact the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce secretariat at: ACWSTaskforce@health.gov.au or call on 1800 020 103 (freecall).  Submissions close on 16 March 2018.