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Innovative scheme for aged care an answer to population growth
An innovative scheme aimed at meeting Australia’s rapidly increasing aged population will provide
substantial benefits to residents and other stakeholders, an independent study of future aged care
and accommodation needs reveals.
The Federal Government’s latest Intergenerational Report 2010 has revealed that the growing aged
population will present significant long-term risks to the economy, and place greater pressures on
government spending, particularly in the health sector.
A
study undertaken last year by ACIL Tasman Economics found that new styles of age-friendly care
and accommodation offered potentially significant benefits, especially in lowering cost pressures on
health and aged care.
ACIL Tasman based its research on The Benevolent Society’s proposed Apartments for Life project,
an age-friendly apartment complex for older people, where they can access care as and when they
need it with support to maintain their strong links to the community.
Apartments for Life aims to make it possible for 95 per cent of residents to stay until end of life
without ever having to move to a nursing home.
The study report found that a progressive roll-out of 50 such innovative complexes over 25 years
would produce top-end savings for government of more than $1 billion.
The ACIL Tasman study report said the model:
Reduced demands for ageing residents to move into higher care accommodation, which
typically involves substantial Federal Government contribution;
Provided higher levels of informal (family, friends and resident community) care for residents,
lowering the demands for formal community care, which entails significant costs for the
Federal Government;
Substantially improved formal care logistics, increasing effective utilisation of skilled care
workers and lowering travel costs;
Reduced resident risks due to the age-friendly universal design features, lowering health
sector costs associated with falls, burns etc;
Provided consolidation of a substantial number of local residents out of larger and less
appropriate housing into the complex, freeing local properties for use by younger families etc –
and taking some pressure off local housing access costs;
Reduced travel requirements between aged residents and family and friends, relative to those
that would flow from moving to a more remote village, with implications for vehicle use,
emissions, congestion and some road accidents with consequential health and other costs;
Added value to the stock of affordable housing available, with direct benefits for State and
Federal housing costs;
Media Release
Thursday 4 February 2010
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Would help reshape the mix of housing to better reflect the changing demographics amongst
the wider population, which should add further benefit to governments and the wider
community;
Would deliver valuable community amenities – high quality public access spaces and the
cluster of professional services, including a dementia day centre – reducing pressure for costs
to be incurred elsewhere.
Mr Spencer said the benefits from the project, to both the community and to the government, are
expected to well exceed the costs.
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As the ACIL Tasman report suggested, a modest up-front contribution to project costs by
governments would make a much faster roll-out of the model possible, delivering a significant benefit
to governments and the community,” said Mr Spencer.
“If the benefits expected from the project brought about governmental policy change, there would be
opportunity for increasing the overall scope of benefits even more.”.
The Benevolent Society is planning to spend more than $60 million on the Apartment for Life complex
in Bondi. The proposed project draws on the successful Humanitas model first introduced in Holland
in the mid-90s, providing more age-friendly accommodation, independent living and care services on
a needs basis.
The ACIL Tasman study found that the Society’s scheme, while not replacing current retirement
village concepts, would be a part of the total solution to the projected surge in the nation’s population
of citizens 65 years and over during the next 20 years.
“An indicator of the cost savings as a result of fewer injuries, based solely on falls that were assumed
to be reduced by 50 per cent, is between about $1.7million and $4.1 million,” the study found.
“Extension to other injuries and especially recognition of the scope for reduced use of hospitalisation
because of limits on in-residence care, suggests overall savings could be substantially more than this.
“This potential for tens of millions in savings from a single development of this type would be
impressive if these were the actual savings – and could point to the potential for much larger savings
from a progressive roll-out of a number of such facilities.”
Media inquiries to Erin Schrieber, The Benevolent Society, 0410 003934 or Graham Cassidy,
Cato Counsel, 0419 202 317
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