Writer
Anita Westera
Anita is a Research Fellow with the Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI), University of Wollongong and has worked in aged care policy, research, advocacy and governance roles for over three decades. Along with Prof Kathy Eagar and colleagues within AHSRI she has been involved in the development of the new funding model for residential aged care, as well as research for the Royal Commission on staffing levels in aged care.
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Aged care again bears the tragic brunt of a COVID-19 wave: why?
The sector that includes some of our most vulnerable citizens was unprepared for the end of lockdowns: the Commonwealth is overwhelmingly to blame. Continue reading »
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Covid and aged care: When you are in a deep hole, the most important thing to do is stop digging.
The bottom line is that the needs of older people cannot be met unless aged care is better integrated with hospitals and health care managed by states and territories. Continue reading »
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The Aged Care Royal Commission: the government responds with more money but the structural problems remain.
The Royal Commission’s first report elegantly articulated the problems that needed to be fixed. The Royal Commission’s final report was full of inconsistencies but had something for everybody. The ‘winners and losers’ have now been revealed in the government response and 2021 budget – and surprisingly, they are not who the government would like you Continue reading »
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Aged care – where sexism and ageism walk hand in hand
Double jeopardy: being female and being old. Continue reading »
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Fundamental failure: Aged care a public good or competitive market? RC fails to address role of private providers
The Royal Commission’s first report elegantly articulated the problems that needed to be fixed. The final report fails to set out a coherent package of practical solutions this same RC identified in ‘Neglect‘. Significant increases in funding are required. But they need to have big strings attached. Amazingly, the Royal Commission failed to address this Continue reading »
