AGED CARE IN RURAL AUSTRALIA
There are considerable differences in the aged care sector in rural Australia when compared to metropolitan areas. Most aged care services in rural and remote areas are provided by not-for-profit organisations or government agencies, with very few for-profit providers (in contrast to the rest of the country).2,3 This is indicative of the financial challenges faced by aged care providers in these areas.
While the majority of residential aged care services, by far, are provided in major cities (MM1) (62 per cent)i, Multipurpose Services (MPS) are a mainstay of service provision in small rural towns (MM5) (61 per cent of MPS are situated here) and remote areas (MM6) (22 per cent of MPS are situated here).3 80 per cent of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Care Programme (NATSIFACP) services are delivered in remote (MM6) and very remote areas (MM7).3 We note that these programs are funded in an alternate manner to other forms of residential aged care and are therefore not part of the current framework in development, but that the IHACPA will consider whether the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) model, which came into place from 1 October 2022, can be appropriately adapted for use in these services in the medium to long term.
