‘Brighter future’ for aged care

Palliative Care Australia (PCA) welcomes the passing of the aged care reforms bills and believes it will give comfort to older Australians in being able to age and die well.

“The federal government’s Living Longer. Living Better aged care package includes reforms to ensure that older Australians will have as much control as possible over circumstances at the end of their life, especially where they want to die,” Dr Yvonne Luxford, PCA chief executive, said.

“The passing of this legislation means that the reforms can now continue with earnest and we can set about fixing the aged care system.”

It is well documented that the current aged care system isn’t meeting the end of life care needs of older Australians, and that palliative and end of life care is a key concern of this group.

“Palliative care needs to be made core business for aged care,” Dr Luxford said.

“Living Longer. Living Better will help ensure this through initiatives such as support for advance care planning, palliative care education for aged care staff and linking aged care facilities to specialist palliative care services and other multidisciplinary care providers to ensure that people receive the care they need.”

A key aspect of the federal government’s reforms is support for consumer directed care, giving people more choice over how and where they want to be cared for, and support for people to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.

“We know that most people would prefer to be cared for, and to die, in their own home where possible. These reforms include measures that will support that choice,” Dr Luxford said.

Palliative Care Australia welcomes any opportunity to work with the federal government and the aged care sector to ensure the palliative and end of life care needs of older Australians are made a priority.