The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) welcomes Government’s bill introduced in Parliament yesterday to address aged care reforms. Some of these measures include having registered nurses on-site and on duty in residential aged care 24/7, capping of home care charges, and more transparency in the costs service providers claim.
“We are pleased that the Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022 puts the wellbeing, health and safety of older persons front and centre where they rightfully belong,” said Mary Patetsos, FECCA Aged Care spokesperson and immediate past Chairperson.
“It is also this acknowledgement of the need to maintain our duty of care towards our older Australians that we support the availability of a skilled and justly compensated workforce, many of whom come from our ethnic communities.”
The 2020 Aged Care Workforce Census found that the number of direct care workers in Residential Aged Care (RAC) from CALD backgrounds is 35% of the total direct care RAC workforce. This is a significant increase from 26% in 2016.
“In addition, removing exit charges means consumer choice can be truly at work. These charges take away a significant proportion of consumers’ home care packages. This directly benefits our communities as an ever-increasing number of older people seeking care are now culturally diverse.
“We also welcome moves to make more transparent how much providers spend on care, food, administration, and profits. We call on government to initiate information campaign in communities and in language to build better understanding on how this new system can help manage costs of care and make better decisions.”
“We commit to working with Government towards implementing these reforms which will return to older Australians the dignity and care they deserve.”
FECCA is the peak body for multicultural Australia.
