In response to Australia’s ageing population, the federal government has undergone a major restructuring of its aged-care home-support program.
In July, the Commonwealth Home Support Program will replace the Home and Community Care (HACC) services with the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP).
Some of the services offered by HACC, like meals-on-wheels, are run by councils.
The Combined Pensioners & Superannuants Association (CPSA) recently said in a statement that under these changes home care fees would double, and in some cases triple for residents.
Marrickville Council Mayor Mark Gardiner also expressed concerns on the impact this would have on the community.
“When older people are left to struggle at home, small struggles can lead to a catastrophic event which can lead to admission into a nursing home.
“Intervention in the form of home care is actually saving the community a lot of money.
“So you can see why Council is concerned that any government cuts in this area is actually a false economy.”
The CPSA claimed that the higher fees could turn pensioners to frozen or diet meals that would now be cheaper than the meals on wheels service.
With pressure being put on the HACC services, it is easy to imagine that for many councils the program will become far more difficult to manage.
The City of Greater Bendigo provisionally decided to withdraw from supplying the service to the community in February.
Following criticism from the community and the state government, the decision was reversed this month.
The Council released a statement listing the reasons behind the initial decision to withdraw from the delivery of HACC services. The decision was informed by a range of factors including ‘a review of the City’s Aged and Disability Services, the Independent Review of the City and introduction of the Caring for Older Australians national reform and National Disability Insurance Scheme, which are expected to impact the future delivery of HACC services’.
The Council will take another review of the service by December 2017.
If the Federal and state governments continue to cost-shift services to local councils while limiting their ability to raise revenue, its easy to imagine that more and more services that were once council supplied will move closer to private hands as they become more expensive and difficult to supply.
If councils don’t have the money to supply core services to the community, or drop the quality of them to stay under budget, what role is there left for councils to fill?
