Aged Care Quality Advisory Council Announced

Membership of the Aged Care Quality Advisory Council has been announced, with  former Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Community Services in the Victorian Government, Andrea Coote, as Chairperson. 
Members of the Advisory Council include Ms Carol Bennett, Dr Matthew Cullen, Associate Professor Rosanna Capolingua, Dr Stephen Judd, Mr Paul Sadler, Mr Ian Yates AM, and Ms Rae Lamb (ex officio).
The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency was established on 1 January 2014 as part of broader aged care changes, and is responsible for quality assurance across the aged care sector.
The Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield made the announcement today, saying the work of the Advisory Council will further strengthen the existing quality assurance framework for aged care services across the country.
“But I want it to also look at quality in terms of what older Australians expect from the aged care sector.," he said.
“The Advisory Council has a strong representation across the aged care industry from both service provider and consumer perspectives, as well as extensive experience in clinical care of older Australians,” Minister Fifield said.
“I want to see the sector build on strong foundations of assurances and safeguards to protect older people in their care, and then look further to how they can meet their consumers’ definition of quality beyond the baseline of safety considerations.”
Minister Fifield said the Advisory Council will support the Quality Agency as it promotes quality aged care service delivery through a comprehensive industry accreditation and education program.
Leading seniors advocacy body COTA Australia welcomed the announcement which it says  ensures the government gets advice from a range of expert voices.
COTA Australia Chief Executive, Ian Yates, said he was pleased that COTA had been appointed to the Council and he looked forward to contributing to measures to improve the quality of age care services that are used by more then a million older Australians.
“Older people and their families should be able to feel confident that they are receiving the highest level of care when they are at their most vulnerable, wherever they are in aged care, and there should be indicators that measure higher levels of quality so people can choose between services,” Mr Yates said