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Overview of submission
COTA Victoria has a vital responsibility to our stakeholders to help ensure the new Act responds effectively to the Aged Care system in Victoria – characterised by a high proportion of public sector residential care, a large number of private-for-profit providers, and the departure of many local government providers from delivery roles. This highlights the need for a framework that drives quality delivery across an increasingly diverse provider market.
Overall, we are pleased to see the draft legislation responding to the changing landscape for service delivery, putting older people’s rights and contemporary expectations of quality at the centre of the regulatory framework. We appreciate the effort to respond to our earlier concerns about the structure of the Act and the design of several significant new elements.
There is, however, further work to be done to realise a fully workable Act that is understandable to, and meets the expectations of, its key stakeholders: vulnerable older Australians in all their diversity. This must include making the legislation itself clearer and easier to understand and navigate.
This submission is based on an internal staff review and input from COTA Victoria members with expertise and personal experience in aged care, building on our submission to Consultation Paper 1. We have not sought to duplicate wider consumer consultation by COTA Australia and the Older Persons Action Network (OPAN) but have liaised with these bodies and broadly support their views.
We focus our feedback on potential to strengthen the way the Act drives a system that gives older people optimal choice and control while protecting them from abuse. In addition to suggestions for improving clarity and comprehensiveness of particular provisions, we offer ideas to improve the design of arrangements for supported decision-making and older persons’ input to system planning and review.
We make a total of 45 specific recommendations for consideration under eight discrete thematic areas, detailed in our full submission.