Regulation of personal carers
getting ahead of the Royal Commission with a low cost option?
During 2019 the Government opposed piecemeal reforms to aged care pending the Royal Commission’s final report. Suddenly, the Minister for Aged Care is moving on the regulation of personal carers. A media release by Senator Colbeck on 29 May 2020 has the revealing title Register for aged care workers a step closer and flags the prospect of full implementation by 2022. This suggests a commitment to action sooner rather than later.
Notably, Counsel Assisting is advocating a relatively expensive but highly desirable ‘top of the range’ scheme for personal carers drawing on the health professions model. The Commission lawyers have argued that the Commissioners should recommend a scheme which adds to the current screening for criminal history by requiring a minimum level of English language proficiency, a minimum qualification, an approval process for training organisations, continuing professional development, a Code of Conduct and a complaints process for breaches of the Code.
A lower cost alternative would be to draw upon the model regulating NDIS employees. It commences in July 2020 and the centrepiece is worker screening for criminal convictions, disciplinary action and misconduct. There is a Code of Conduct applying to both providers and workers and the NDIS Commission can receive complaints about contravention of the Code and impose penalties. Unlike the health professions, there is limited access to the worker database and no language, qualification or training requirements. This model, along with that for the health professions and the one applying to child care workers, is canvassed in a May 2020 Department of Health consultation paper Aged Care Worker Regulation Scheme. Comments are sought by 29 June.
It is possible the Government and the Health Department have an open mind and the health oriented model has an even chance of adoption. There is nothing in aged care provider evidence to date however to indicate they would favour this. Provider associations are better organised than consumers and it is likely their comments will dominate, to say nothing of their more powerful lobbying. At this point, the scales seem tipped in favour of aged care personal carers being aligned with disability sector carers. This is so notwithstanding that the aged care work in residential care is nursing work and that the disability sector has a different work culture. Will the Government deliver a surprise here? I doubt it.
Carol Williams 18 June 2020