Statement attributable to Corey Irlam, acting Chief Executive Officer of COTA Australia – the leading advocacy organisation for older people:
Recent media reports about the way the aged-care star-rating system is being implemented clearly highlight a need for improvements in the system to ensure older people and their families can have confidence in the information they’re provided.
The specific cases outlined in the media report were deeply concerning and upsetting. No family should ever have to go through what those families have been through.
COTA Australia called on the government to conduct a review into the star-rating system earlier in the year and looks forward to seeing the recommendations of that review. It’s clear that the star-rating system needs ongoing work to ensure the information it provides is reliable and that the rules that drive the calculations for star ratings meet community expectations.
It’s concerning that a system meant to reliably inform older people and the community is seen as sometimes delivering conflicting or confusing information based on whether non-compliance notices are formally issued or not. This must be addressed through ongoing improvement to the way star ratings are calculated, to restore community confidence in the star-rating system.
Having an effective, well understood and publicly available star-rating system should empower older people and their families while holding providers accountable.
Continuous improvement is crucial for any system and must be applied to the star ratings.
Older people and their families need to be able to have confidence in the star-rating system, and it’s up to the government to ensure steps are taken to ensure that’s the case.
Media contact: Tamara Kotoyan, 0430 291 890 or Alana Mew, 0419 929 722
