Aged & Community Care Providers Association National Conference 2023

On 25-27 October, Christina Wyatt (Professional Practice Advisor) and Debra Parnell (Senior Policy & Advocacy Advisor) attended the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) National Conference in Adelaide.

This year’s conference theme was ‘The Age of Change’, which encapsulates advancements in technology, society and culture, as well as the possibilities and challenges of this era in aged care.

Day 1
Day 1 opened with a stirring keynote address from Samuel Johnson of Love Your Sister on turning a negative into a positive. Delegates heard from Mike Baird, former NSW Premier and current CEO of HammondCare, on how to support ambition, change and wonder in aged care; an update from members of the Aged Care Taskforce on the status of their interim report; an address from Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon. Sen. Anne Ruston, who acknowledged the consequences current aged care reforms are having on allied health workforces; and insights from Grant Cordery, of StewartBrown, on current and future financial trends in aged care funding.

Day 2
CEO of ACCPA Tom Symondson provided an address acknowledging the work and efforts of aged care providers and the need to support ongoing reforms and changes underway. Industry experts and consumers discussed the demands and future goals for the care workforce across the sector and a range of interesting sessions took place considering models of care for palliative care, support for unmet needs leading to changed behaviours for people living with dementia, and features of high-quality consumer experience and quality of life measures in residential aged care. The day ended with an entertaining and insightful presentation from demographer Bernard Salt considering the emerging and changing needs of our future older communities.

^{L-R: Patricia Sparrow (Chief Executive of COTA Australia), Debra Parnell (OTA) and Tom Symondson (CEO of ACCPA)}

Day 3
Laurie Leigh, CEO of National Disability Services, spoke about correlations between the NDIS and Aged Care, and Minister for Aged Care, the Hon. Anika Wells discussed the progress achieved in reforming aged care and the next stages of reform anticipated. Further sessions covered the changes needed to make the shift to the new AN-ACC funding classification system and the actions taken by IHACPA to build the pricing framework for residential aged care. The final keynote presentation was delivered by author, musician and award winning artist Gill Hicks on her experiences of disability as the result of a terrorist attack and her views on the importance of communication and relationships.

^{L-R: Tamara Henwood (Resthaven), Christina Wyatt (OTA), Natasha Egan (Australian Ageing Agenda) and Mark Ryu (Australian Ageing Agenda)}