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Union wants aged care actionDate: 24 June 2005
A new Senate report on aged care provides long overdue opportunities to upgrade the way we care for the elderly in our society, LHMU Aged Care Union, National President, Helen Creed said today. " This report came down with bi-partisan recommendations - if all sides of politics can agree on what needs to be done then the Federal Government should not allow this report to gather dust," Helen Creed said. LHMU Aged Care Union members will welcome the unanimous report of the Senate Community Affairs References committee on Aged Care and will call on the Howard Government to act immediately on its recommendations.
" Unfortunately too many parliamentary committee reports, which cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, are allowed to go to waste. " Families of residents and union members should contact their local MP and ask them to react positively to this report." Random spot checks must be sharply increased: ReportUnion members will be particularly pleased that the report recommends aged care facilities be subject to random spot checks without notification - this has been a major campaign issue for our activists, Helen Creed said." The scrutiny of the aged care sector is totally inadequate and only one in ten homes receives a spot check each year. "There needs to be a huge increase in the number of spot checks on aged care homes.
Wage parity a high priority issue" Wage parity between aged care workers and their public hospital counterparts is also a recommendation made by the Senators - this is something which we believe must be a high priority to be achieved as soon as possible." Wage parity is essential to recruitment of future aged care workers and to stop current aged care workers from deserting the industry. " We estimate that to achieve wage parity in aged care the Australian government must increase funding to the aged care sector by over $1 billion dollars. Benchmark of care recommendation will set new standards" This report demonstrates that the aged care sector is undergoing quite substantial change but the development and implementation of comprehensive policy by the Government has not kept pace," Ms Creed said." The LHMU Aged Care Union has campaigned for some time for a benchmark of care to be adopted to set new standards - which meet community expectations - for residents of aged care facilities. " We are pleased to see that this view is now incorporated in the Senate report as a key recommendation. " Residents and their families need to have a confidence that the level of staffing at any time is sufficient to provide the care required. Government must accept evidence of underfunding" Our union activists will encourage the Government to take the recommendations on community care seriously.They reflect strong evidence of underfunding, unmet demand and imbalance of service provision across the nation.
Competitive tendering criticised"The Government needs to outline a clear timetable for the implementation of "The Way Forward" report so community care providers can plan for the future." The use of competitive tendering was criticised heavily by many witnesses. Ten thousand young people in nursing homes need to be provided with alternatives" Recommendations about young people in nursing homes provide a blueprint to the Commonwealth and States/Territories to ensure people with disabilities who are inappropriately living in residential aged care are provided alternatives that will allow a better quality of life."" With more than 10,000 young Australians in these nursing homes our union has previously joined with others unions and community groups to campaign around this issue," Helen Creed said.
" This has been a unanimous report based on community-wide consultation. Its recommendations reflect a universal desire for collaborative reform and a common approach to the mechanisms of reform. "The Government cannot treat this unanimous Report in the arrogant way it has treated too many Senate reports. We all will look forward to the Government response within three months," Helen Creed said.
Media comment:
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| Contact: | Andrew Casey |
| Union: | Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union |
| Phone: | 8204 7206 |
| Fax: | 92821 4480 |
| Email: | andrewc@lhmu.org.au
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| WWW: | http://www.lhmu.org.au/
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