Abandon age care reforms, government urged

The Federal Government has been urged to abandon aged care reforms as concerns have been raised about potential hardship and suffering for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders.

Dr Jill Gallagher, pictured with her mother Francis Gallagher and CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), has called on the Government to exempt Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders from income-tested fees and co-contributions under the new Support at Home program.

“Our Elders deserve aged care systems that honour their dignity, history and sovereignty,” Dr Gallagher wrote in Croakey.org.

“They are the holders and keepers of the oldest living culture in the world, and they do not deserve more policies that once again leave them behind.

“Quite simply, these reforms are an equity bomb.

Barriers

“From November 1 the transition to the Support at Home program will begin. It should simplify access and ensure fairness. But instead, it gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders new barriers of access to services that are essential for their health, wellbeing, and quality of life.

“This is because the Australian Government is introducing mandatory income testing, fees and co-contributions – without exception.

“This requirement to pay out-of-pocket fees will make aged care unaffordable for far too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders. Under the proposed legislation, equity gaps will widen even further.”

Non-Indigenous Australians become eligible for aged care services at the same time as they can access their superannuation.

But Aboriginal people, who access aged care services from the earlier age of 50, will face up to 15 extra years of paying fees and co-contributions for aged care services – before reaching the age of access to their super.

Stolen wages

“This compounds the existing inequity of Aboriginal people retiring with considerably less superannuation than non-Indigenous people,” Dr Gallagher said.

“For generations, my people were forced into poverty by government policies that excluded us from the workforce. Even when work was available, we were often paid in food rations, tobacco, or not at all. Our wages were stolen. Our super was never paid.

“Now, the Government will be forcing those generations to pay out-of-pocket fees for essential home support like meals, cleaning, transport, and personal care.”