More than 4,330 people registered for OPAN’s What the new Aged Care Act means for you: the Big Q&A webinar. Between them, they submitted more than 600 questions.
Our panel of experts worked hard to answer as many of those questions on the day as was humanly possible – online or behind-the-scenes in the chat. Here, we document 20 of the most commonly asked questions.
OPAN will continue to analyse the issues raised by older people, their families and other supporters during the Q&A to provide further feedback to government and to assist us in developing the topics for future webinars.
The Big Q&A, on Wednesday, 23 July, was co-facilitated by OPAN CEO Craig Gear and COTA Australia CEO Pat Sparrow. It featured the expert panellists:
- Anne Burgess, Chairperson of the Council of Elders and the Aged Care Taskforce
- Liz Hefren-Webb, Commissioner of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
- Susan Trainor, Assistant Secretary for Contributions and Accommodation Reform at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
OPAN Director Policy, Education and Systemic Advocacy Samantha Edmonds and OPAN Senior Policy Officer Anne Muldowney answered additional questions through the Q&A chat.
Key discussion areas included:
- navigating the aged care system
- focusing on access and equity
- fees and charges
- rights, regulation, and accountability,
- issues surrounding service delivery in residential care
- workforce challenges,
- home care,
- and complex needs, and inclusivity.
Read the full list of frequently asked questions here.
