Australia Needs to Plan For Aged Care Boom Now: PM

A resident looks from an aged care facility in Melbourne, Australia on May 31, 2021.William West/AFP via Getty Images

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that Australia needs to start planning and preparing for its ageing population after it was revealed that economic growth in coming decades will slow.

Speaking on ABC Radio on Aug. 22, Mr. Albanese said that the country needs to be “collectively planning” for the transition.

“We need to be collectively planning as a nation for it,” he said.

“That’s why we need to respond to the Aged Care Royal Commission properly. That’s why we need to consider issues such as the way that we build our housing needs to be adaptable so that as people age, they can stay at home, which is what most people, of course, prefer to do.

“We need to just prepare for it.”

The call from the prime minister comes as the 2023 intergenerational report is scheduled to be released on Aug. 24.

According to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the report will show that economic growth into the 2060’s will be sluggish largely due to an ageing society and stalled population growth.

“To prosper in the coming years, we need to make our economy more productive, not by making people work harder and longer for less, but by combining the things that we know will deliver productivity growth in the coming decades: economic dynamism and resilience, a role for data and digital, a more skilled and adaptable workforce, focus on the care economy and the services sector, and also the vast industrial opportunities that come from our pursuit of net zero and becoming a clean energy superpower,” Mr. Chalmers said on Aug. 21.

Mr. Chalmers also noted that the IG report had shown that Australia would need to start educating an aged care workforce immediately.

“When the care economy is going to go from something like eight percent of the economy to 15 percent of the economy, we obviously need more workers,” Mr. Chalmers said.

But he said that he did not see these roles being filled primarily by migrant workers to Australia. Instead, the government would look to train more Australians to create a national workforce.

“Our first priority is to train more Australians for these opportunities to make sure that we get the human capital piece right here in Australia,” he said.

“But as has been the case for some time, migration will play a role as well.”

Tax Reform May Be Needed

The treasurer also indicated that the care of the ageing population may require a reform of the tax system.

“What the IGR will show is that spending needs grow over time,” Mr. Chalmers said.

“As there becomes more and more pressure on the budget, then governments will have to do more to allow for that and to account for that and to respond to that, but we have made really quite substantial progress getting the budget in much better nick to face the global economic uncertainty in the coming years and the demographic and other pressures on the budget in the decades after that.”

Previously the Albanese government has signalled it would like to see tax reform in the areas of multinationals, high balanced superannuation, compliance, cigarettes, and the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) reform.

Nationals Call For Bipartisanship on Ageing Population Demands

National leader David Littleproud told ABC Radio on Aug. 22 that his party is open to having a “mature” discussion on what will be necessary to handle the changing demands on the Australian government.

“We do need political leadership from all sides to have a mature conversation, knowing the burdens that are coming on the NDIS, Medicare and making sure that we can provide a safety net,” he said.

“I think that our tax system and where tax credits are going means that a lot of people or individuals are going to pay the burden of this. Whereas we can look at where there are some more sensible ways to spread that, to make sure there is an equitable spread and that we’re able to provide the services we need while improving productivity and improving our infrastructure.”

He called for the government to also consider payroll tax and stamp duty at the state levels.

“We think that there’s an opportunity to create the investment in rural and regional Australia that already pay the bills through agriculture and resources and to make sure that it’s part of the solution into paying for those continuing to pay for those critical industries and services that we provide now,” he said.