The Ministers for Health and Aged Care have called on the Australian community to have its say on the Terms of Reference for the recently announced Royal Commission into the Aged Care Sector.
Ministers Greg Hunt (Health) and Ken Wyatt (Aged Care) said an online feedback tool had been set up in the Department of Health for the purpose with the final Terms of Reference to be determined in consultation with the community.
The Ministers said they expected the Royal Commission to cover such matters as the quality of care provided to older Australians; the challenge of providing care to people with disability or dementia; future challenges and opportunities; rural and regional needs; and any other matter the Commission considered necessary.
“All members of the community will be now be able to have their say,” the Ministers said.
They said consultation on the Terms of Reference would be open until 25 September but the Commission itself would take public submissions once it commenced.
They acknowledged that reports and concerns raised by the public had served to inform the Ministers’ views that led to the Royal Commission.
“Incidences of older people being hurt by failures of care simply cannot be explained or excused,” they said.
“We must be assured about how widespread these cases are”.
They said that as a community, Australia expected high standards for the quality and safety of its aged care services.
“This Royal Commission will be about proactively determining what we need to do in the future to ensure these expectations can be met,” the Ministers said.
The online address for comments on the proposed Terms of Reference is the Department of Health’s Consultation hub which can be accessed at this PS News link.
