Originally Posted by
ronaldson
Today's "Australian" newspaper has run a significant article stating that 7 in 10 nursing homes in that country are currently running at a loss, concluding that the future of Australia's residential aged-care system under critical threat and noting that occupancy rates are also falling.
Given the length of time the sector has been underfunded there is a need for "structural change".
My own view is that Government cannot fix this issue, especially given the inexorable demographic tides, and that society will have to accept that ordinary people will need to contribute significantly more than at present from their own resources towards supported living in aged care. Reduction in subsidy will need to be accompanied by deregulation and a lessening of control over these facilities, whatever the consequences of that are.