Aged care lands $312m for IT modernisation

Australia’s aged care administration has emerged as a major winner in the first Labor government budget, with $312.6 million over four years to be spent on IT modernisation.

The funding is the single largest chunk of a four-year, $540.3 million commitment “to improve the delivery of aged care services” and respond to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s findings.

The commission, which handed down its findings in March 2021, recommended sweeping changes to IT systems in the sector, as well as a focus on adopting digital technology to improve resident care and wellbeing.

“The new aged care system will need to be supported by an information and communications system that is vastly evolved from the systems that exist now,” the final report stated. [pdf]

“New information and communications technology architecture is needed to define and connect nodes within the aged care system and enable data and information to efficiently flow between all users. 

“Given the fragmented nature of the aged care system, the role of developing a modern information and communications strategy for the sector should be driven by the Australian government. 

“It is most important in light of the rapid pace of technological change and the advances in data analytics over recent years that the government draws on a wide range of resources and experience in developing the new information technology and communications architecture for the sector.”

That work is now set to begin, with the government unveiling a $312.6 million investment over four years from 2022–23 in the federal budget, handed down Tuesday evening.

The funds are intended to cover “essential aged care information and communication technologies system maintenance and enhancements, including streamlined reporting, and to enable aged care sector reform.”

In a statement, minister for health and aged care Mark Butler said the $312.6 million would “modernise aged care ICT” and “reduce the administrative burden for the more than 2000 providers that interact with the government’s aged care systems.”

He said that funds would also be allocated to the sustainment of “existing My Aged Care system operations”, referring to an online services portal.

In addition to the $540.3 million, the government also committed $2.5 billion to further reform the aged care sector, funding a registered nurse at each facility 24 hours a day, and an increased amount of time spent with each resident.