CHP PhD Confirmation Seminar - Mark Cooper-Stanbury
Centre For Health Policy PhD Confirmation Seminar
Equity for our elderly: supply and demand factors for equitable access to residential aged care
Date: Thursday 4th February 2pm-3pm (AEDST)
Presenter: Mark Cooper-Stanbury
Via Zoom - All Welcome
https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/84575189671?pwd=enFXaC9WSUYzckZCeTdXV1h5eVpvdz09
Password: 197276
Numerical and structural ageing are increasing the need for formal aged care services globally. In Australia, governments collectively spent around $20 billion on aged care in 2018–19, representing 4% of all government spending, and 1% of gross domestic product. These numbers are getting bigger, with around one-third of the projected growth in aged care spending over the next decade due to ageing of the population. Assuming that governments will want to continue exercising spending restraint (particularly following the COVID-19 budget pressures, but balanced against the likely recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety), the finite resources should desirably be distributed equitably. There are equity provisions built into the legislation and associated ‘allocation principles’, but there are limited policy tools for ensuring equitable access at a micro level, and limited means for monitoring equity at a micro or macro level.
This research will make two separate but linked contributions. First, it will confirm and quantify the demand and supply factors that influence equitable access to residential aged care in Australia. Second, given the various demand and supply factors, it will propose a set of ‘best buy’ policy options, including assessment/ scoring against the equity objectives.