The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is one of more than 20 such inquiries into aged care stemming back to 1997. This latest inquiry, announced late last year will no doubt highlight the systemic problems that have been previously reported.

The purpose here isn’t to name and shame, but to ensure the Commission – with its interim report due in October this year and a final report due in April 2020 – understands the root cause of the problem, and not just the problem itself.

Over the next 35 years, it is expected that the aged care workforce will need to nearly triple in size in order to be able to continue to provide support for consumers of aged care. As demand for aged care services increases, so will demand for a well-trained, responsive and diverse aged care workforce. 

As the workforce shrinks and demand increases we need to begin looking at more innovative solutions to make the Aged Care sector in Australia a more desirable and rewarding place to work.