Living Longer Living Better Reforms: The (D)evolution of Accountability in the Aged Care Sector

The Australian federal government has been experiencing increasing cost pressures from Australian society to continue to fund the costs relating to elderly care. However, due to the decline in the ratio of working people to elderly Australians, there is an increasing risk that there will be insufficient funds to support the elderly population by 2050. Consequently, there is a continuous change in the balance of funding the aged care sector as the Australian government’s policy evolves to shift accountability to elderly citizens by requiring them to contribute more towards the financial costs of their care.