“I enjoyed having an opportunity to meet the staff and residents at Riddell Gardens Hostel this week” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“Residential aged care and home help services are extremely important, especially given the regions aging population” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“Despite all the warnings about Australia’s aging population, official statistics clearly show that over the last decade, Australia has gone backwards when it comes to the provision of aged care beds and services for Australian seniors” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“This is an issue that affects not only Australia’s senior citizens, but also their families and loved ones who want to see their parents and grandparents adequately cared for” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“In 1996, Australia had a surplus of 800 aged care beds. At that time, there was a ratio of 92 beds provided for every 1000 people aged 70 years of age and over.”
“Over the last decade, the Howard government has managed to turn this 800 bed surplus into a 5000 shortfall in the number of aged care beds available in Australia.”
“At present, the target ratio is to make sure that there are 88 beds for every 1000 people aged 70 years and over. In 1996, there were 92 beds for every 1000 people aged 70 years and over. Today, the national average is 85.6 beds” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“In addition, the 2005/06 Productivity Commission Report on Government Services released in January this year showed that waiting times to get into residential aged care facilities have increased significantly. Today, over 28% of people who are assessed as requiring a bed now have to wait for three months or more to actually receive a bed, compared with 15% in 2000.”
“Currently, about 13% of Australia’s population is aged 65 years and over (2.5 million people). By 2051, that will increase to 25% (6.8 million people).”
“At present, the Howard government is simply failing to meet the needs of a rapidly aging population, and without any long term policy strategy, the problem is only going to get worse.”
“Sunbury comes under the Northern Metro Aged Care Planning Region. The Northern Metro Region fares particularly badly when it comes to aged care bed provision. The latest figures we have (June 2006) reveal that there are only 82 beds per 1000 people aged over 70 years in the region. This is a deficit of 396 aged care beds” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“In February, I wrote to the State Aged Care Planning Advisory Committee pointing out this deficit in aged care bed provision in our region, and requested that more funding be made available for our area under the 2007 Aged Care Approvals Round process.”
“Last year, I was also able to work with local aged care facilities like Riddell Gardens and supported their successful application for funding under the 2006 Aged Care Approvals Round for 50 additional Community Aged Care Packages (CACP’s) for Melbourne’s Northern Metro region.”
“There is still a lot more to be done to lift the number of aged care bed numbers available in our region, and I shall again be supporting Riddell Gardens and other local aged care providers this year during the 2007 Aged Care Approvals Round” Ms Vamvakinou said.
Contact: Alex Kouttab
