Australia’s age services sector is a major employer but maintaining and developing a skilled workforce is a major challenge. Sean Rooney, CEO of Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), discusses the importance of upskilling Australia’s future workforce to keep up with the needs of our ageing population.

Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) has not forgotten its place in helping to upskill and empower the aged care workforce in responding to residents reaching the end of their lives. Pat Sparrow, CEO of ACSA discusses the importance of high-quality palliative care and end of life care services in aged care facilities and how partnering with projects such as End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) can support aged care workers in providing quality care for Australians as they reach the end of life.

A significant feature of the 2019-20 Federal Budget for healthcare professionals, and patients and their carers was that it foreshadowed a shift in funding arrangements for chronic disease management within primary care for people aged over 70. Katharine Silk, Innovation and Integration Manager at Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association (AHHA) discusses how the federal budget may impact primary care nurses.

It is uncertain how each of us will die and how we will experience the declining capacity to manage everyday activities as we approach death. Dr Deidre Morgan from Flinders University discusses her recent study evaluating the trajectories of functional decline of Australian patients receiving specialist palliative care and how the findings can provide guidance about resource allocation.