Meeting with the Interim Inspector General of Aged Care
Last week, as part of a roundtable in Canberra on Aged Care, I met with the Interim Inspector of Aged Care, Mr Ian Yates, along with the CEOs of other Primary Health Networks.
One of the outcomes of the Royal Commission into Aged Care was the establishment of an independent office of Inspector General of Aged Care to investigate, monitor and report on the administration and governance of the aged care system, including the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission. While the Inspector-General cannot be appointed until the supporting legislation has come into effect, in the interim Ian has been appointed under administrative arrangements to get started on this important work.
The roundtable was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the role of the Inspector General and to discuss the multiple challenges facing the aged care sector. The roundtable highlighted the main challenges facing aged care: the demographics of an ageing population with increasingly complex health issues, an overworked and underpaid workforce, lack of funding and resources, and a lack of technological innovation to enhance efficiency, all of which have led to a system that is not providing high quality care.
While the challenges of improving aged care are significant, we left the roundtable with a sense that the office of Inspector General has a clear role in ensuring the recommendations of the Royal Commission are enacted.
Western Victoria Primary Health Network’s (WVPHN) own work in the aged care sector is rapidly expanding, with a number of projects – Healthy Ageing Hubs, Intergenerational Programs, Telehealth grants and more – currently in the process of being implemented by our new Healthy Ageing Team. All of us will need care at some point of our lives, and we all deserve quality care that meets our needs, so we look forward to playing our part in improving aged care for older Australians.
Closing the Gap Day
Finally, some reflections on Closing the Gap Day, which fell on 16 March last week.
In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised, during his apology to First Nations people for the Stolen Generations, to deliver a report card each year on the Government’s efforts to close the gap. Targets spanning health and wellbeing, education and employment, justice, safety, housing, land and waters, languages and digital inclusion were set and adjusted over the following years.
Listening to some of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) in western Victoria, it seems there are differing views about the deficit framing contained in Closing the Gap, and a suggestion that perhaps a greater focus on self-determination would produce different targets. It is generally accepted that the initial framing and establishment of Closing the Gap lacked First Nations’ voices.
In 2016, fearing that the government’s announced “refresh” of Closing the Gap would again fail to adequately include First Nations’ voices, community-controlled organisations joined to push for meaningful inclusion. After much advocacy and some resistance from government, the Coalition of Peaks and the Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap began.
A key learning from the 2018 refresh was that more needed to be done to shift toward self-determination, stating:
One of the lessons governments have learned over the last ten years is that effective programs and services need to be designed, developed and implemented in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We must place collaboration, transparency, and accountability at the centre of the way we do business with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia. Working in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is fundamental to Closing the Gap.
More recently, Closing the Gap policy has included a set of four “priority reforms”. These are seen as central to Closing the Gap, as they set the pre-conditions to achieve socio-economic targets, and provide the potential to drive generational change for First Nations people. They are a key element of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2021-2031.
Considering a widely held view that a significant limiting factor for progress on Closing the Gap is a failure to properly listen to First Nations’ voices, as an organisation we are more determined than ever to include those voices and experiences in our work.
Rowena Clift, CEO WVPHN
22 March 2023