COTA welcomes the establishment by the Minister for Family Services of the Technical Reference Group. The organisations to be targeted by the Technical Reference Group are those that did not pass the building certification requirements. Restructuring issues arising in rural and remote areas will be another focus of the Technical Reference Group's activities. We hope that after the initial phase of focussing on facilities that did not achieve certification, the Technical Reference Group can advise the Minister on restructuring the aged care industry. Before addressing residential care and COTA's October 1997 letter to Members of Parliament, I must first refer to older people's major preference - independent living.
Community care represents an important complementary system to residential aged care.
The importance of community care has been highlighted in the debate on the financing of residential aged care in 1997. While we believe that there is an ongoing role for residential care, we consider that there should be much greater Commonwealth support for HACC-type services to enable older people to continue to live at home. This package gives recognition to the desire by so many older people to remain in their own homes. With home and community support or care provided through the CACPs, older people can live with dignity and security. COTA has concerns regarding the lack of availability of low levels of support for many older people across the country.