You may have heard that many Councils across Victoria have started shutting down their in-home support services and referring clients to private providers.
Many more will follow.
The fact is that today, Councils have become a business and they have abandoned any form of social responsibility we would have expected from them.
For many, this is a shock, because it seems that councils have placed the elderly, our loved ones – in the bin. This is the sad new truth for thousands of vulnerable Victorian residents that have been able to stay in their homes with in-home support from their local council.
Until now, Councils have been hiding a massive secret. They have been funded by the Federal Government based on “block funding”. This model of funding would give Councils a grant each year upfront based on their population size, not the number of people they are actually supporting. For most councils, this would be in the millions – free cash, regardless of the number of people you actually help!
This vital federal funding has enabled elderly residents, particularly those alone, with support for as little as $6 an hour to do things like clean, mow lawns, shop, cook, or any general home help.
Thousands of families across Victoria are now worried that their loved ones will struggle to live independently, and many may be forced into aged care prematurely as a consequence. The looming problem is that the aged care sector simply doesn’t have enough beds and rooms to accommodate such an influx.
Let’s call this for what it is – Councils abandoning vulnerable people because they can’t make a buck.
Councils pay about $35 per hour plus travel allowances to their staff, whereas private providers pay about $25 an hour flat rate. This means that Councils have now found themselves unable to compete in the space and unable to make a profit. The former federal government was absolutely right to take profit out of this sector and mandate that it be cost-neutral. The unintended consequence is that Councils have been exposed for what they really are, profit-hungry corporates, steered by profit-hungry executives. They are no longer a community enterprise to help locals.
What we do know is that alternate providers are already unable to deal with the increased volume of requests, mostly because Council staff do not want to move employers for significantly less coin. This is leaving thousands of residents without continuity of service and making an absolute mockery of the promises council officers made to councillors when these alternate providers were contracted/agreed upon.
Many Councillors now have egg on their face, and I have no sympathy for them, they should have done their homework – this was an obvious disaster that anyone could see coming. You just can't assume a workforce will move because you want them to.
I say to any Council who has let down these residents, your heads should roll.
If Council’s cant serve our elderly and vulnerable, what hope do the rest of us have when we need something? If Councils won’t spend money from their hundreds of million-dollar budgets to support our elderly and vulnerable, then isn’t it time to abolish councils altogether?
A society is measured by how it treats its disadvantaged, elderly, and vulnerable.
I think Councils have somehow lost that memo and are so wrapped up in themselves they can’t see the trees for the forest anymore.
I am angry and you should be too.
Further reading
City of Casey Heartless on Fines to Citizens who are TaxPayers
I paid a fine in 2019 and one sometimes before when in both Cases I was having financial problems
One of which i attended 55 Kangans for a test CPAP breathing problem.... no considerations whatsoever
Even I wrote twice
No solutions or cancellations