Right now we are approaching a key, three year milestone in a reform process that began in 2012 with the then Gillard Government. The aim was to reshape the aged care system which was widely agreed to be complex, disjointed and hard to negotiate, not to mention inadequate to growing demand and changing expectations of consumers.

The broad objective of the reform process was to create a “flexible and seamless system” that could “provide older Australians with more choice, control and easier access to a full range of services.”

Among the reforms was big emphasis on people being supported to stay at home, rather than having to go into residential care. The number of home care packages were substantially boosted and a new system of ‘consumer directed care’ was introduced.

‘Consumer directed care’, commonly referred to as ‘CDC’, is a new way of delivering care and support services where ‘the customer knows best’. This means that the person getting the service makes the decisions about what mix of assistance and supports they’d like to have to best fit the way they want to live.

For more, go to Frank & Earnest - the conversations of life.