December 2019
AHPA responded to the Royal Commission’s request for submissions on workforce issues in aged care following the public hearing on 14-18 October 2019. This document is intended to complement our previous submission to the Commission.
AHPA welcomed further discussion in this area and argued that any consideration of the aged care workforce must be broader than the usual discourse focusing only on nursing and aged care workers. Allied health professionals are often not considered as part of the overall aged care workforce. While allied health may represent a proportionately smaller workforce in aged care, some of the biggest gaps in the delivery of high-quality care relate to access to qualified allied health practitioners and allied health services.