Seven of some of Western Australia’s largest aged care providers have released a plan aiming to strengthen the state’s increasingly strained aged care system.
Seven of some of Western Australia’s largest aged care providers have released a plan aiming to strengthen the state’s increasingly strained aged care system.
Collaborative group Advance Ageing Western Australia – comprising Amana Living, BaptistCare, Bethanie, Brightwater Care Group, Hall & Prior, Juniper and Southern Cross Care WA – took its inaugural Green Paper to Canberra this month in an effort to address increasing demand in the sector.
From Rights to Reality provides nine recommendations to prepare WA for the almost doubling of the state’s ageing population by 2041.
Part of the proposal is a statewide live data platform and a 10-year infrastructure plan, focusing on investability, workforce sustainability and place-based planning.
Brightwater chief executive and Advance Ageing chair Catherine Stoddart said the paper paints an in-depth, data-informed picture of WA’s aged care sector.
“Our aged care system is already under pressure and, with demand for residential and home care set to rise sharply, now is the time to strengthen WA’s readiness for a sustainable aged care future,” she said.
“WA’s vast geography and economic landscape create a unique set of challenges compared to the rest of the nation, but they also present opportunities to innovate and build a stronger future for our ageing population.
“Nine recommendations outlined in our Green Paper are achievable and implementable, crafted from decades of experience across the seven aged care providers.”
Dr Stoddart said the need was increasing with the estimation that the state would face a shortage of up to 2,800 residential aged care beds by 2030 and the amount of investment required increasing to $1.8 billion.
“There are also significant shortfalls in the aged care workforce, with at least 2,179 full-time direct care employees, including more than 440 registered nurses, required in the next five years,” she said.
“The pressures are real, but so is the opportunity to act now and build a stronger, more sustainable aged care system for WA.”
Advance Ageing met with federal members of parliament, government agencies and industry stakeholders while presenting the nine recommendations in its trip over east.
The group was established in 2020, but has recently been escalating its public advocacy efforts.
Between the seven providers, they support more than 24,000 older Western Australians, employing 13,500 staff across 104 residential aged care homes.
List of recommendations
- Establish a WA aged care viability and investment framework
- Develop a joint Commonwealth-Western Australia aged care capital and infrastructure pipeline
- Align aged care funding and capital settings to strategic need
- Establish a Commonwealth-WA Aged Care workforce compact
- Build and sustain the aged care workforce pipeline
- Lift workforce capability, productivity and sustainability
- Establish a shared WA place-based planning framework for ageing and aged care
- Build a shared aged care data, planning and equity platform
- Implement place-based reform through pilots and whole-of-system integration
