GCMA welcomes 2021 Federal Budget Funding for Aged Care

The Global Centre for Modern Ageing (GCMA) has welcomed the $18-billion funding the Federal Government has included in the budget to implement its responses to the Aged Care Royal Commission including increased funding for workforce training and securing private operators.

Responding to the Australian Federal Budget, the GCMA says society is at a pivotal point in time where the ageing megatrend is having an increasing impact. The older demographic is now the largest demographic on the planet, and the ageing industry must transform to address the societal and negligence gaps experienced by people as they age.

GCMA CEO Julianne Parkinson wants to stress that the 2022 Federal funding is an opportunity for new entrants, with entrepreneurial approaches and demonstrated track records to enter the supply chain and deliver on the aspirational transformation. 

“At the GCMA, we aim to be a catalyst of change, helping improve the lives of older people. We are built on the core belief that the evidenced based, person centred approaches will drive and create the best outcomes for everyone – that is what we want the government to consider when providing funding.

“The ageing sector is ready for transformative change, and as highlighted by the Recent Royal Commission, it needs ground-breaking models of care that enable us all to find the right care at the right time, be that at home or in a residential setting that also delivers on quality of life,” said Julianne.

The GCMA recently partnered with Google Chrome Enterprise to publish its qualitative research report, ‘Inspiring new models of care: Digital health in the Home’, which investigated challenges and opportunities facing the Australian healthcare industry. The research was conducted to clarify how older Australian’s view health technology becoming integrated into their homes.

Following this research, the GCMA understands the sector needs new relationships, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and both the mindset and processes to integrate digital health across the board.

Digital health is an ecosystem designed to support and improve the health and wellbeing of older Australians, while making it easier for Aged Care providers to offer in-home support and enabling clinicians to look after their patient’s health, both face-to-face and virtually.

Looking to the future, the digital health ecosystem unfolds to include evidence-based innovations, products, care pathways, collaborations, partnerships, and programs, which combine and share the following key objectives:

• Reduce inefficiencies
• Improve access
• Reduce costs
• Increase quality
• Make medicine more personalised, preventative, and predictive

The GCMA advocates that well governed, nuanced co-design insights that boost and support workforce attraction and retention through skills development and career progression is crucial in introducing new solutions and innovations to the modern ageing ecosystem.

The GCMA conducts research into the business of ageing. Partnering with businesses across built environment, workforce planning, finance and age-tech to discover futures for products and services that will contribute to individuals’ wellbeing, GCMA tests and validates through pilots both onsite at the Living Lab and insitu in the community. 

The GCMA are committed to co-designing solutions to problems identified as we age. 

“We encourage our Government to spend funds well now for the future, allowing more people access to better care, in their homes,” said Julianne.