Michael Perkins attended The Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) National Conference in Adelaide on the 13-15 October. This conference is the largest age services event in Australia. The theme of the event was ‘It’s Up to Us’, looking at how everyone involved in the aged care sector must own their part in the transformation of the sector and put into effect the change they want to see.

Our top takeaways from ACCPA National Conference 2022

ACCPA (the Aged & Community Care Providers Association) is the newly formed peak body for the Aged Care Sector across all its forms of service delivery. At the conference, sector leaders explained how the Government is supporting industry-led initiatives to continue to evolve the aged care services sector in the light of the new Aged Care Act to be launched in 2023 and the ongoing responses to the recent Royal Commission into the sector.

There were over 100 briefing sessions at the conference across three days. The key learnings we have taken from the conference are:

1. 1. Any government focus on Home Care delivery will be a matter for 2023 and beyond.
   2. Immediate concerns are with harmonising the health system and the Aged Care system applying what learning can be gleaned from operating the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
   3. The current crisis in the Aged Care workforce is receiving significant attention. ACCPA as a national peak body will have much to do in responding to this issue.
   4. Community building in residential and home care settings is not yet a priority but the significance of community to the delivery of quality care was noted. This is seen as central to the economic fabric In rural and regional communities. Ken Wyatt, recently retired from the Parliament, spoke eloquently on this issue.
   5. The linkages between medical and values-driven care planning and the operation of personal representatives were not covered in depth.
      These issues are complicated by the conflict between the operation of Commonwealth and State laws across personal representation and the protection of the rights of citizens within States. These areas will pose great challenges in evolving effective service collaboration across State boundaries. We continue to believe approaching service collaboration as a business system and business processes will assist greatly in resolving this problem. Our work with the Institute for Collaborative Working  Australia is helping us build the experience and tools to enhance our ability to be a leader in cognitive responsive collaborative professional services.

We will continue to unpack the learnings from this conference.

For our professional and commercial services colleagues, contact us to discuss further how we can more deeply align the delivery of our services to the greater benefit of our mutual clients.