According to the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), waiting lists and refusal of service will be the norm across the State if funding for home and community care is not improved. Launching a campaign to highlight the plight of home care in Victoria, the MAV President, Councillor Brad Matheson, said home care services for the aged and those with a disability was in crisis.
“In 1999/2000 the Federal Government and State Government combined contributed $94.6 million to home and community care services delivered by Local Government in Victoria,” he said.
“At the same time Local Government contributed $92 million. That is equal to more than six per cent of rate revenue and this number is growing. At this rate, Local Government will contribute more than the Federal and State Governments combined by the year 2003.”
He said this is totally unacceptable.
Local Government, as the key provider of home care services, is finding it extremely difficult to provide home care services to meet today’s needs, let alone the demands of the future as the baby boomers age.
“Currently the Federal Government requires a productivity saving which is absolute nonsense. Ninety nine per cent of home care services’ costs is in wages, therefore productivity savings can only mean wage cuts or service cuts,” Councillor Matheson said.“We are asking the Federal Government to take productivity savings out of the funding equation.”
The MAV also argues that the Federal Government must abolish its equalisation policy to home care funding.
“Each year Victoria is receiving progressively smaller increases in growth funding than the other states,” he said.“Currently Victoria receives 3.7 per cent when the national growth figure is six per cent. This is clearly inequitable.
“Victoria has a more sophisticated level of home care and lower levels of residential care and because of our higher level of home care we are being punished.
“The Federal Government must redress this situation as a matter of urgency or face ever increasing aged care dislocation in this State.”
