Government’s Own Research Shows Its Failing on Ageing

The Health Services Union today released confidential Federal Government research which shows less than three in ten people believe it is doing enough to tackle the ageing of the population.

The Health Services Union today released confidential Federal Government research which shows less than three in ten people believe it is doing enough to tackle the ageing of the population.

The research was obtained from the Department of Health and Ageing by the HSU under Freedom of Information Laws.

HSU national secretary Craig Thomson said today that polling and focus group research by Worthington Di Marzio found:

• Less than three in 10 people (28 per cent) believed the Federal Government was doing enough "to cater for the fact the Australian population was ageing";

• The percentage that believed the government was not doing enough had increased from 59 to 64 per cent between a 2003 survey and the 2006 one (8 per cent said don't know);

• The top concerns for people were the lack of beds and services in aged care and increases in the cost of healthcare

• People in focus groups reported that they believed the Government did not care about the crisis in aged care

"It is clear from this research that people are deeply concerned about the lack of services available for the elderly both in aged care and health," Mr Thomson said.

"They understand the Federal Government has a large budget surplus but believe it does not care enough about the plight of the elderly to act.

"It is no good the Government claiming it has fixed the problems in aged care with its recent investment of extra funding.

"They have not fixed the shortage of beds nor have they done anything to improve care standards

"We still have an aged care system in which there are no minimum staffing levels, no minimum training levels, no minimum care standards and no minimum qualifications for staff.

The government has also recently failed to support amendments to an aged care bill which would have broadened whistleblower protection to staff, residents, families and advocates that report all types of abuse and neglect in residential aged care. The government has instead introduced whistleblower protection that is limited to staff and providers that report physical and sexual abuse, which is positive, but does not go far enough.

The union had previously requested that the new Minister for Ageing, Christopher Pyne address a number of issues, including to advocate for broader whistleblower protection (See Related Story)

These issues must be acted upon by the new Minister for Ageing Chris Pyne and the Treasurer Peter Costello.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, 03-Apr-2007 09:17:12 EST