Shocked PM puts aged care in dock

A LANDMARK royal commission into Australia’s aged care system is expected to begin in the coming months, focusing on the widespread abuse and neglect of elderly Australians.

As revealed in the Sunday Tasmanian yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has established the major inquiry after a “very disturbing trend” in abuse and failures in resi- dential and in-home care throughout the country.

The government is aiming to settle on the terms of reference within weeks and choose commissioners and begin the inquiry in the coming months.

It will cost up to $75 million and is expected to hand down its findings by the end of 2019.

Announcing the royal commission, Mr Morrison said he was shocked by the extent of failures he had heard about in the aged care system.

He said the government’s crackdown on the aged care facilities — including spot checks and compliance audits — had revealed the problem was widespread.

“It has revealed a very disturbing trend in what is happening in terms of noncompliance and abuses and failures of care that have been occurring across the sector,” Mr Morrison said.

The PM said authorities had closed one aged care cen- tre a month since the government’s new measures came into effect, while more facilities are being sanctioned over their failures.

The Opposition spokeswoman for ageing, Tasmanian MP Julie Collins, said Labor would support the royal commission but it needed to look at the impact of budget cuts in previous years. She said Mr Morrison cut almost $2 billion out of the aged care system in his first year as treasurer.