Royal Commissions and Boats

30 Jan Royal Commissions and Boats

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (RC) issued initial correspondence to nearly 2,000 of Australia’s aged care service providers late last year. Responses were required by 7 January (top 100 providers) or 8 February 2019 (everyone else).

The RC stated in its opening address on 18 January that just 83 responses had been received.

Providers who have not yet heard from the RC may still receive correspondence. We saw in the Financial Services Royal Commission that smaller providers were not exempt.

The timeframe for responses might be considered short. However, that depends on your perspective. The Financial Services Royal Commission tested the ship-worthiness of financial institutions and expected real time responses to its questions. Back to the ship analogy, the captain needs to know the boat, its strengths and weaknesses and be able to deal with them at short notice on the high seas to ensure that passengers are kept safe. The boat and crew are there for the passengers.

There are similarities between the three recent Royal Commissions. Key is the focus on the high standards that the Australian community expects. Simple compliance with minimum requirements or market practice is not sufficient. Protecting the boat should not come before its passengers.

The captain is responsible for the ship, crew and passengers. There are known risks, foreseeable risks and unknown risks. These may include reefs, storms, lightning, pirate attacks or even food poisoning.

The RC wants to know that, at any point in time, providers understand the risks and have plans ready to address, resolve and/or minimise risks as they arise, with minimum danger to residents.

The RC has been called to address systemic failures. Its ultimate goal is to make recommendations to government that will improve the quality and safety of aged care in Australia. The letter makes this clear, raising questions of ‘systemic failure’, broader policy issues and interactions between different types of health care.

It is important to bear these things in mind when responding to the RC.

The next hearing will take place on 11 February.

Unravelling Red Tape is available to assist in your preparation for the Royal Commission. I have extensive experience dealing with government agencies, including working with high-level advisory Secretariats to government. My four-part guide to Royal Commissions can be found here.