ACCPA welcomed yesterday’s passage of aged care reform legislation through the House of Representatives in Parliament but expressed concern at the lack of detail in the bill.
ACCPA Interim CEO Paul Sadler said the Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022 was amended allowing aged care providers unable to hire a Registered Nurse to be on site 24/7 to be exempted. Exemptions would be made public and would be time limited subject to authorisation by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
Mr Sadler echoed concerns expressed by the Federal Opposition and Member for Mayo, Rebekah Sharkie, that there has been not enough time to allow scrutiny of any detail.
“Now that Parliament is to be suspended next week due to the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we would like an opportunity to examine a draft of the subordinate legislation before the bill returns to the Senate,” Mr Sadler said.
“These changes are critical to the smooth operation of proposed aged care reforms. While we welcome the exemptions for providers unable to find RNs to ensure there is 24/7 coverage, we have not yet been able to see any detail to assess how their operation could affect aged care providers.
“Now that there is a break before Parliament resumes we expect to have a chance to see the detail of the subordinate legislation so that we can have some input on behalf of aged care providers.”
Media contacts: Kate Hannon (ACCPA) 0499 106 957 or Jane Garcia (Essential) 0455 111 593
