Australian Association of Gerontology

Submission to Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality & Safety

The Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG) is Australia’s peak national body in relation to ageing, linking researchers, educators, policy-makers, practitioners and other experts. INCITE information facilitated the development and drafting of AAG’s submission to Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality & Safety. We also facilitated the development and drafting of a separate submission on behalf of AAG’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing Advisory Group (ATSIAAG).

The Royal Commission presented a pivotal opportunity to influence policy and the funding & operating environment for aged care in Australia by identifying critical areas to improve outcomes for older people. The basis for AAG’s submission was that systemic, transformative change is necessary to address safety and quality issues: substantive, on-going and sustainable improvements cannot be adequately addressed through incremental or piecemeal change.

We facilitated meetings of key AAG staff, the AAG Board and ATSSIAG executive to identify critical points to focus the attention and commitment of government decision-makers to assist in re-aligning future governmental policy directions.

Preparatory research identified a wide range of important areas for inquiry and reform of services and supports for older people. Because of the number and complexity of these issues, it was important that AAG’s submission provided the Royal Commission with a conceptual framework to strategically guide and prioritise thinking, discussion and action for the reform of services and other support for older people.

The submission presented a principles-based, conceptual framework to strategically structure and prioritise thinking, discussion and action to guide transformational change of services and other support for older people.

Importantly, by working closely with AAG’s CEO and Board (and ATSIAAG executive), INCITE information ensured that AAG’s submissions were aligned with the organisation’s strategic principles and priorities.

Client Testimonial

“Paul and Wendy rightly insisted on face to face meetings with the Board and other stakeholders. They quickly picked up the brief and ground deep to understand both what the problem was and what we wanted to achieve. Having done the hard yards in thinking, they facilitated a transformative approach from the Board on the initiative that has led to AAG being seen by key stakeholders as the thought leaders in ageing. There is no way we would have got there without them.

Paul and Wendy both have that unusual combination of being deep thinkers, totally relational and giving practical, often creative approaches to complex challenges. Grab ‘em, before their books fill.”

James Beckford Saunders
CEO
Australian Association of Gerontology