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2011-01-29

No alarm for Australia's aged care

Comments on Mike Steketee “Problem of the ageing boomers won't go away”, 29/01/2011, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/problem-of-the-ageing-boomers-wont-go-away/story-e6frg6zo-1225996154932

Australia should not be too alarmed by the so called population aging issue.

Australia is different from Japan and most Western European nations because of its capacity to absorb immigration.

For Australia, there is the luxury that it does not need to make some hard decisions now and can afford to wait until those nations have resolved the issues associated with population aging and learn lessons and avoid making unnecessary mistakes in tackling those issues.

Further, population aging is a gradual process and will take a very long time to see big differences in age structure and their impacts on social policies.

Australian political governance means the party in government may have a tendency to postpone or avoid making hard decisions that may have long term benefits but short term political damages.

So one has to be realistic about any aging issues and the political processes in Australia.

The best policy any government has to make in relation to population aging and aged care is to realise that it is both the government's and individuals' responsibility for everyone's aged care when it comes to that time and introduce a mechanism that every individual has the incentive to look after their own interests and prepare for his/her care when becoming aged persons.

Government should provide reliable and authority information for the public to enable them to make informed decisions for preparing for their aging and aged care.

Maybe the government can create a system of universal minimum voucher per person based on some sort of tests and a mandatory system for aged care providers to make that minimum care available to those who demand it. They, of course, can and should provide higher standards of cares with private contributions.

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