Following the announcement by the ACT Government in February that it would close the biggest provider of respite care in the territory in June, ACT Independent Senator David Pocock is standing alongside community advocates and calling on both major parties to make a federal election commitment to save the Burrangiri centre.

A new community analysis by the Save Burrangiri Action Group released today reveals closing the centre will remove more than half (56%) of all available respite beds in the ACT leaving just 12 beds remaining. This is data the ACT Government has previously said it did not have access to when making the decision to close the centre.

“The ACT Government has previously said that access to respite is a federal responsibility, so I’m challenging both Labor and the Coalition to commit to saving respite care in Canberra at this election,” said Senator Pocock.

“Losing half of the Territory’s respite beds, before there is a plan to establish new services, will put families with caring responsibilities under immense pressure. It is likely to see older members of our community having to go into full-time residential aged care prematurely, where places are also extremely limited.

“Whoever forms government can save Burrangiri with $1.7 million, almost the same amount of money Labor pledged last week it would spend on a shade sail for the Queanbeyan Bowls Club. 

“I am also asking Peter Dutton to take a break from bashing Canberra to announce something positive for our city and to make this a bipartisan commitment.”

Under current arrangements, the Commonwealth pays approved residential aged care providers a subsidy for each person in residential respite care but the provider must use a portion of their residential aged care places for respite care to receive the subsidy. The Commonwealth also subsidises community respite like that delivered at Burrangiri through Home Care Packages and previous capital grant rounds. 

Senator Pocock also said that access to respite would be a key area of reform he will push with the next government if he is re-elected in May.

“While we have made some positive changes to the aged care system this term with multipartisan support, there is still much more to do,” Senator Pocock said.

“I’ve been able to apply pressure to reduce the ridiculously long wait times for aged care assessments in the ACT, but we know access to respite remains a key issue for carers in our city and across the nation.

“If re-elected, I’ll be pushing the next Government to take action to fund the establishment of new community respite options that communities across Australia are asking for, which could include a new grants round to provide potential providers with the capital they need to put in place more beds.”

Dr Peter Lyons, Convenor of the Save Burrangiri Action Group said closing the centre will shift the respite burden onto Canberra’s overloaded hospitals.

“There are 69 people already taking up beds in our hospital as they wait for a place in an age-care facility. This decision is a false economy and makes no sense. We should be preserving this treasured and much-loved facility for as long as possible,” said Dr Lyons.

Ms Tania Ladyzhynsky, whose mother has stayed at Burrangiri following a surgery, said closing the centre would leave many families stranded.

“Burrangiri was the only option for us when my mother needed respite after surgery. The respite system is slow and hard to navigate and there simply aren’t beds available. Taking Burrangiri out of the system will leave many carers stranded,” Ms Ladyzhynsky said.

Ms Joan Plunkett, a 101-year-old Canberran who is a current user of Burrangiri said she is very concerned about a future without the centre.

“I’m very concerned about being able to secure further respite. I’m concerned about the carers getting burnt out. I’m really worried about the staff being able to secure future jobs”.

Media contact: Fiona Scott M| 0407 294 620 E| [email protected] 

Results of community analysis

The analysis was conducted by the Save Burrangiri Action Group.

The Group phoned all community respite providers listed online as well as residential aged care providers to ask whether each facility offers a day program, whether clients need an ACAT assessment, whether they take clients with dementia, and how many dedicated beds are available for respite. There are five providers out of a total of 25 that have not yet been contacted.

The full dataset is available on request. The below provides the number of dedicated respite beds at each provider, including as a total share of respite beds across the ACT.

Media contact: Fiona Scott M| 0407 294 620 E| [email protected]