Aged-care home operators should be required to reveal how much of their funding is spent on resident care before they are allowed to charge higher fees or receive greater Commonwealth subsidies, according to a leading consumer advocate.
A consortium of aged-care peak bodies and operators has issued a report warning there is a $62 per bed, per day gap between the revenue homes with modern facilities received and their costs.
The federal government is considering a Productivity Commission report which recommended an overhaul of the sector, including allowing higher charges for people who can afford to pay more for high-quality nursing home accommodation.
Linda Salterelli, of the Aged Care Crisis Team, said operators needed to be more transparent about how much money they spend on staffing, food and direct care for residents.
''An overhaul of aged-care funding is long overdue and a good place to start would be for us all to know how current aged-care subsidies are now being spent before any further decisions are made,'' Ms Salterelli said.
''How much is spent on staffing, on food or on direct care to residents?
''Without valid data, it is impossible to make an informed decision about the real cost of aged care and how it should be funded in the future.''
Ms Salterelli said many aged-care operators complained the system was heading towards a financial crisis but were making healthy profits.
Aged Care Association Australia chief executive Rod Young said the residential aged-care sector was already highly regulated and not afraid of accountability requirements.
''I've got no problem with us being accountable and transparent,'' Mr Young said.
He said a timetable for reform needed to be set in the May budget this year or it was unlikely the system would be able to cope with the needs of the rapidly ageing population.
''If it's not then we get into an election next year and then it will make any major reform highly problematic,'' he said.
''I think we do need to have a program which at least starts a program of addressing the reform agenda.
''That doesn't have to be a huge financial commitment form government at this stage. It only needs to be a plan, a timetable of agreed action.''
Mr Young said it would take between five and eight years to implement reforms.
''The reality is if we delay by another year. we're our to 2020. If we delay by two more years it bounces out to 2022,'' he said.
Mr Young said reforms to the aged-care sector should allow consumers who required residential aged care to have more choices about their care options.
''It's essential that whatever reform package we deliver actually gives much greater control and choice to consumers,'' he said.
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