Draft Charter of Aged Care Rights
The submission to the Department of Health’s consultation regarding the draft Charter of Aged Care Rights (the Single Charter) was prepared by the Law Council of Australia.
This submission addresses the Law Council’s:
- general support for a Single Charter as a means of overcoming complexity and confusion amongst both aged care recipients and providers;
- suggestions to increase the Single Charter’s clarity and accessibility to a wide audience of aged care recipients and service providers;
- view that the Single Charter would be most effective if it were underpinned by a human rights rather than a ‘consumer’ approach;
- support to include additional ‘core’ rights in the Single Charter, including: the right to full and effective use of an individual’s personal, civil, legal and consumer rights; the right to live without discrimination; certain key freedoms; and the right of access to advocates.
- view that many ‘consumers’ who will be covered by the Single Charter will be vulnerable or disadvantaged. The Department should appropriately contemplate and cater for the fact that not all consumers are equally able to understand and exercise their rights, and provide a service delivery framework for how this may be addressed. This framework would include:
- increased access to specialist legal services regarding elder law issues; and
- establishing a more effective complaints system for residents, families and support persons.
You can read the full submission below.
Last Updated on 22/10/2018