The Aged Care Guild has today called on the Federal Government to guarantee there will be no more cuts to funding for aged care in this year’s Budget.

Aged care has been hit by a series of funding cuts in recent years – in particular a change to the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) in the 2016 Budget which reduced funding to the sector by $1.2 billion.

“The Aged Care Guild calls on the Turnbull Government to rule out further cuts and to maintain funding for aged care in this year’s Federal Budget to be handed down on May 9,” Mr Cameron O’Reilly, CEO of the Aged Care Guild said.

“Our sector has endured a number of budget cuts in recent years, and we are now at a point where any further reduction in funding will severely compromise the ability of the sector to offer affordable care and meet future demand for care places,” Mr O’Reilly said.

Launched today, the Aged Care Guild’s ‘Protect Aussie Aged Care’ campaign highlights the voices of aged care residents and employees, people on the “front line” of care delivery who understand the impact further funding cuts would have.

“The industry is facing major challenges in meeting the demands of an aging population and delivering the 76,000 new beds that are required by 2026,” Mr O’Reilly said.

“Further cuts would make a difficult situation much worse. The sector needs funding stability to ensure it can continue to provide the services elderly Australians need,” Mr O’Reilly said.

The $1.2 billion cut to the ACFI in last year’s Budget, followed a $472 million reduction in funding in the 2015 MYEFO, the freezing of indexation in 2012 and the removal of the Payroll Tax supplement in the 2014 Budget.

Further information about the ‘Protect Aussie Aged Care’ campaign can be found at: http://protectaussieagedcare.com.au/