Next stage of aged care transfer to private agencies

The Victorian Government aims to improve home comforts in residential aged-care services through the transfer of 775 public-sector places to private and voluntary operators.

The Minister for Aged Care, Mr Rob Knowles, has announced a call for tenders in stage three of the transfer project.

"Involving outside aged-care operators enables us to offer older people much-improved and better-located facilities, in line with the Federal Government's compulsory requirements."

"In Victoria, almost one third of residential aged-care services have been managed by public hospitals; often in buildings that are old, inadequate and inhospitable," he added.

Nearly 500 aged-care places have already been relocated to non-public-sector agencies.

The transfers will free-up funds to improve the availability of care to senior citizens who prefer to remain in their own homes rather than moving into residential care.

Nursing homes in stage three of the residential-care improvement project are at Caulfield, Ferntree Gully, Cheltenham, Rosebud, Geelong, Bendigo, Red Cliffs and Colac.

The redevelopment program began in 1995 with the transfer of 100 residential aged-care places in the Bairnsdale region to two new purpose-built facilities.

The fourth and final stage, involving a further 1000 places, is likely to begin late this year.

On completion of the project, about 2300 people will have been transferred to outside agencies. The Victorian Government will still care then for some 5000 elderly people in public residential aged-care facilities.

(News Release, Office of the Minister for Health and Aged Care, February 12, 1999)