The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP, is currently visiting capital cities and regional towns across Australia to listen to the views of older Australians, their families and carers on building an aged care system that supports positive ageing.
Minister Butler’s ‘Conversations on Ageing’ provide an avenue for community response to recommendations from the Productivity Commission’s Final Report Caring for Older Australians, as well as ideas for positive and healthy ageing.
The Productivity Commission’s report, released on 8 August 2011, contains an analysis of the aged care sector and recommends an integrated package of reforms for the future of aged care in Australia.
The Australian Government has indicated that the Commission’s recommendations will be considered as part of its broader ageing agenda.
In formulating its response, the Government will be guided by four overarching principles.
- Older Australians have earned the right to be able to access quality care and support that is appropriate to their needs, when they need it
- Older Australians deserve greater choice and control over their care arrangements than the system currently gives them
- Funding arrangements for aged care must be sustainable and fair for both older Australians and for the broader community
- Older Australians deserve to receive quality care from an appropriately skilled workforce