"The Government will develop its response to the report’s recommendations guided by four overarching principles:

• First, every older Australian has earned the right to be able to access quality care and support that is appropriate to their needs, when they need it.
• Secondly, older Australians deserve greater choice and control over their care arrangements than the system currently provides.
• Thirdly, funding arrangements for aged care need to be sustainable and fair, both for older Australians and for the broader community.
• And finally, older Australians deserve to receive quality care from an appropriately skilled workforce."

   

– Joint statement from the Prime Minister,
the Minister for Health and Ageing and the
Assistant Treasurer on 8 August 2011.

“The Government will seek the views of the community as it develops its response to the final report. Minister Butler will tour the country to engage in conversations with the broader community about care and support for Australians as they age,” they said. The joint statement also said the Government would be talking to industry peak bodies such as the National Aged Care Alliance (NACA). LCC CEO Jacqueline Kelly and Director Policy, Communications and Innovation Adrian Morgan are contributors to NACA. LCC has been assisting with a soon-to-be-released set of NACA information sheets that explain some of the key recommendations.

Adrian said the final report followed the same broad directions as the draft report, but provided more detail on some issues.

“In principle we are happy with the recommendations” he said.

“We are particularly pleased that the Commission has recognised the need for continued strong support for people with limited financial resources.

“Now we are waiting for the Government to make some decisions and we look forward to hearing their response.”

“We are monitoring the situation closely and are confident that our current strategies put us in a good position to deal with the changes that could be in store for LCC”.