Aged care: is a blunt instrument being sharpened?
Published 26 June 2019
How much does it cost to look after a nursing home resident given their health and needs? The current system comes up with a figure, but nobody really knows what it is based on. Time to change from a blunt funding instrument to a sharp one. [more]
Regional Transport Seniors Card: $250
Published 26 June 2019
STARTING on 1 January 2020, the Regional Transport Seniors Card will provide a credit of $250 a year to be used towards fuel, taxi fares in rural and regional NSW and pre-booked NSW TrainLink train and coach services.
Government sets itself up for unreal retirement income review
Published 26 June 2019
WHAT is the point of a review of how the pension, superannuation and tax interact when you say upfront that you are not going to change superannuation and you're not going to change tax?
NBN: landline phone only options
Published 26 June 2019
YOU are going to have to engage with the NBN if you want to keep your good old-fashioned home telephone. That old telephone will run through the NBN internet network, whether you have a computer or not.
Digital life after death
Published 26 June 2019
WHAT happens to our online accounts when we die? With so much information and transaction being online these days, you want to find out.
Class action to claim back lost pension entitlements
Published 11 June 2019
An Age Pensioner has been successful in claiming back substantial pension reductions after Centrelink incorrectly assessed an inheritance received by them.
RBA cut: Government must lower pension deeming rates now!
Published 4 June 2019
With one interest rate now announced and another one or two coming, it’s time the Government reviewed the deeming rates used to assess the income pensioners get from their bank accounts and term deposits.
Bupa Willoughby: why mandatory staff ratios are the only way
Published 28 May 2019
Bupa Willoughby's evidence at the Royal Commission into Aged Care is proof that putting nursing homes in charge of setting their own staffing ratios represents a severe case of handing over the keys to the blood bank to Count Dracula. [more]
ACCC takes BUPA to court
Published 28 May 2019
THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Bupa Aged Care Australia Pty Ltd to court. That's something the spick-spanking new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission can't do.
Legislation for publication of aged care staff ratios reintroduced
Published 28 May 2019
RE-ELECTED South Australian Federal Member, Rebekha Sharkie will reintroduce her Staffing Ratio Disclosure Bill. The Bill will require aged care facilities to publish staff-to-resident ratios on the My Aged Care website.
Specialists still free to charge fees as they please
Published 28 May 2019
Medical specialists can and do charge like wounded bulls. Beware those without health insurance. The Government is throwing a price-comparison website at the problem. Will this make specialist medical care more affordable?
Will I get Alzheimer’s?
Published 28 May 2019
Now there's a question. Wouldn't it be nice if by just playing a game on your mobile you could settle that question once and for all? Sea Quest Hero promises to do just that, but how realistic is this claim?
Are mobility scooters for daredevils only?
Published 28 May 2019
Mobility scooters look as benign as dodge'm cars, but overseas evidence suggests they are potential death traps.
Death waits for no one except IPART
Published 28 May 2019
The NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is looking at the pricing of interment and cremation when what matters to people who buy funerals is in the overall pricing of funerals.
Pensioner cost of living up more than rest of country
Published 28 May 2019
FROM 1 January to 31 March 2019 the cost of living for Age Pensioners went up by a third of a per cent. Compensation in the form of indexation will not occur until September 2019.
Can Australia afford the boomers?
Published 28 May 2019
CAN Australia afford babyboomer Australians? That‘s the question the Parliamentary Budget Office, or PBO, tries to answer in a report recently published.
Bring out the blunt instrument!
Published 23 April 2019
THE Aged Care Royal Commission heard evidence from a number of systemic advocacy organisations. Counsel Assisting quizzed them on nursing home staffing. Apart from CPSA, their response was that mandatory staff-to-residents ratios in nursing homes would be too hard, too blunt an instrument. [more]
Aged Care Charter of Rights, a beautiful fantasy
Published 23 April 2019
THERE has been a lot to do about the new aged care Charter of Rights. This new Charter will cover people receiving care both in nursing homes and at home. Each care recipient must be given a copy of the Charter of Rights and this copy must be personally signed by the aged care provider who provides them with care. [more]
16,000 died waiting for a Home Care Package: Royal Commission
Published 23 April 2019
THE Aged Care Royal Commission has finished its second hearing. This hearing was about aged care at home, which means Home Care Packages (HCPs) and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP). The Commission examined My Aged Care, the HCP waiting list, HCP fees and charges and the home care workforce. [more]
Energy: One-offs don’t solve entrenched problems
Published 23 April 2019
THE Australian Government announced a one-off Energy Assistance Payment to all pension recipients living in Australia on 2 April 2019.
Stay up to date with CPSA news and media releases
Our regular email newsletter provides valuable insights and information on topics such as pension entitlements, healthcare, government policies, and more.