Policy and Advocacy Aged Care Update June 2024

OTA attended the inaugural Invox National Aged Care Conference on May 30 and 31. The conference focused on Home Care and featured an impressive lineup of speakers addressing a variety of issues facing both the home care sector and the broader aged care industry. Among the key speakers was Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Aged Care, who emphasised the importance of aged care as an integral part of the health system and highlighted the need for a system that is fit for purpose, inspires confidence, and is built to last. Kearney also noted that recent budget measures that are intended to support these objectives.

OTA met with the Department of Health and Aged Care team leading the new Assistive Technology and Home Modifications pathway under the Support at Home reforms. We will continue to seek opportunities to be engaged in this work.

In March, OTA wrote to the Minister for Health and Aged Care to express concerns about the Aged Care Taskforce report and the ongoing uncertainty regarding OT funding in aged care. We recently received a response from Minister Anika Wells, who assured us of the government's commitment to providing allied health services in residential aged care. Under the Support at Home initiative, allied health will be an ongoing service and part of an expanded restorative care pathway, supporting function maintenance and restoration through a multidisciplinary approach. She also outlined initiatives to increase transparency in allied health services, including:

• Publishing service-level spending on allied health on the My Aged Care Find a Provider Tool at www.myagedcare.gov.au/find-a-provider, enabling residents and families to compare services.
• Expanding the National Quality Indicator Program from July 2025 to include staffing measures, such as allied health, recognising their role in enhancing residential aged care quality.

OTA is preparing a submission to inform a consultation on the expansion of the Quality Indicators program into in-home aged care and is also supporting AHPA’s submission on the Star Rating system. 

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