There have been some horrific assaults in aged care homes in recent years – and now it’s claimed the number of serious physical and sexual assaults has more than doubled in just a decade, according to a frightening submission to a parliamentary inquiry.
The data, presented by the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association (CPSA) of NSW, states that violent assaults have increased from 0.62 per cent to 1.36 per cent between 2008-09 and 2016-17.
The findings were submitted to the standing committee on health, aged care and sport inquiry, and according to the CPSA, they don’t even show the full extent of the issue – as the results only represent what the centres must report, and not everything that goes on secretly, behind closed doors.
“It is therefore fair to say that the published data do not accurately represent the true horror of the incidence of physical and sexual assault in residential aged care in Australia,” the CPSA said in its report, seen by Starts at 60.
It went on to clarify: “A reportable assault is a significant physical or sexual assault within a nursing home by a person who is compos mentis. It is therefore very likely that, by and large, assaults by residents on other residents go unreported. A high incidence of this type of assault can be assumed.
“It should also be noted that where the same perpetrator assaults the same victim multiple times these multiple assaults are reported as a single assault.”
The CPSA claims that, despite the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency regulating safety in these aged care facilities, the audit reports “contain no concrete data”.
“Adding the inadequate reporting on residential aged-care performance and the near-impossibility to obtain any information relating to aged-care performance through Freedom of Information, one is left with the impression that aged-care regulation in Australia is framed to enable non-disclosure of provider performance,” the submission adds.
It clams the regulator, and the industry as a whole, prefers to “operate in secrecy”.
It comes as the Federal Government announced it had appointed a new watchdog for the aged care industry, acting as a one-stop shop for complaints.
Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission – which will start work on January 1 next year – was designed to promote transparency in the industry.
National Seniors Australia chief advocate Ian Henschke welcomed the news, and said it was essential to have a single point of contact. The commission will bring together functions of the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency, the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, and the regulatory functions of the Department of Health.
“Integration is necessary to improve the regulatory system,” Mr Henschke said. “Putting all the functions of three different aged care bodies into one could be a challenge but if well implemented, it should lead to better monitoring and early detection of quality of care issues.”