Fair and sustainable pricing is one of the enablers of a system that can deliver high quality of care. In our submission to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority’s (IHACPA) Consultation Paper on the Pricing Framework for Australian Residential Aged Care Services 2024-25 we recognise that getting the classification and assessment processes right is so important to making sure people receive the level and mix of high-quality care they need, in a timely way, and that no-one is being excluded from the system. We draw IHACPA’s attention to areas where further work and consideration is needed, including around allied health and lifestyle and pastoral care; respite and palliative care; the development of the indexation formula and adjustments for regional service delivery.
Submission to the Aged Care Financial Sustainability Taskforce
In this submission we recommend the Taskforce consider building a sustainable and fair funding base for aged care, including by changes to the overly generous tax treatment of superannuation, and to how housing wealth is assessed in means testing of aged care services. The funding system should be simpler and easier to understand, for older Australians and the community in general, and it should operate in a way that enables and encourages providers to invest in high quality and innovative models of service delivery.
Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the worsening rental crisis in Australia
Once, renting was seen as a temporary housing solution – a stopgap between leaving home and buying your first property. It is now clear that more and more Australians will rent for life. Yet renting in Australia has never been less affordable. It is time for our legal and regulatory framework to adapt to that change, enshrining protections for renters and limiting unfair rent increases that have driven unaffordability. The Federal Government must also reclaim its role in supplying housing. Solving this crisis will require sustained and long-term commitment to improving Australia’s housing market. Our hope is that this inquiry will provide the Government with a blueprint for a better Australia.
Submission to the National Health and Climate Strategy
Climate change is impacting people’s health, quality of life, livelihoods and ability to make ends meet financially. These stark realities underscore the importance of the proposed Strategy, which presents an opportunity to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change while improving health and wellbeing outcomes for all Australians. This submission supports the Strategy’s committment to health in all policies, and calls for additional focus on equity and intergenerational justice.
Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Strengthening the Safety Net Bill
For years, Anglicare Australia has called for working age payments to be raised above the poverty line. Although the measures in the Bill fall short of that call, we supported the Bill as an immediate means of helping Australians struggling to make ends meet. In this submission we called on the Committee to recommend passing the Bill, but to also recognise that the work of tackling poverty, making sure everyone has a safe and secure place to live and strengthening the safety net is far from done.
Submission on the draft National Care and Support Economy Strategy
In this submission, Anglicare Australia welcomed the timely consideration of a long-term vision for Australia’s care and support system. The submission takes as its starting point for the provision of care a commitment to providing the essential support, and the opportunity to flourish, for all members of our society. But while we welcome many of the goals and objectives proposed in the Draft Strategy, we question the presumptions of market efficiency and productivity that underlie it.
Submission of Measuring What Matters – Second Consultation Phase
Anglicare Australia recommends strengthening the Wellbeing Framework by incorporating indicators that evaluate digital inclusion, wealth inequality, access to a safe and secure home, and the establishment of a nationwide definition of poverty.
Submission to the Productivity Commission’s Review of Philanthropy
Anglicare Australia believes that philanthropy provides an important source of additional funding for community service organisations. However, any reforms to encourage philanthropic giving or changes to the tax treatment of donations should be designed to complement stable funding for essential services, not replace it. We also encourage the Government to:
(1) simplify and extend the availability of Deductible Gift Recipient status to all charities registered with the ACNC,
(2) improve access to concessions for charities, including Fringe Benefits Tax Exemptions.
Submission to the Early Years Engagement Unit on The Early Years Strategy
All children should be able to grow and thrive in a safe and supportive environment. Yet, one in six children across Australia live in poverty, with long-term detrimental impacts on their education, health, wellbeing and future. But child poverty isn’t inevitable, it is a policy choice. This submission calls for an immediate increase to social security payments to lift children and their families out of poverty, investment in social and affordable housing to address the crisis in affordable housing that is driving many people into poverty, and the removal of the activity test for childcare subsidy.
Submission on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum
In this submission, Anglicare Australia strongly supports the proposed Bill for a referendum to establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. In solidarity with First Nations Peoples, communities and organisations, we will be advocating in support of a successful Yes vote at the referendum to establish a Voice enshrined in the Constitution to empower First Nations peoples.