Urgent Call for Action

Across the world we are watching the horrific impacts of Coronavirus unfold. In the absence of warnings or precedents, unimaginable decisions have been made to prioritise the lives of younger people over the elderly. Our own direct accounts in the UK demonstrates the devastating impact on residents, staff and their families.

While the threat of this pandemic is equally concerning for Australians, we also have a heavy dependence on refundable accommodation deposits and the rapid outflow of capital funds will shortly trigger widespread insolvencies.

We must take this small window of opportunity to prepare and learn from the experiences of our international counterparts. If we use this time to properly resource our aged care industry, we will be giving our parents and care workers the best possible chance.

Over the coming weeks, we will be providing first hand accounts of aged care operations across the world and Australia as we move toward peak infection levels. In particular we will be reporting on the responses made by Government and the sector to prepare ourselves for the pandemic.

This report outlines the phases we can expect and tactical actions available to Government and Providers. It also outlines the information we have provided to the Commonwealth to support these recommendations.