An aged care home on Tasmania's north-west coast is to be shut down, with the company blaming financial losses.
Residents at the 34- bed Levenbank home at Ulverstone have been told they have two years to find alternative accommodation. Eliza Purton bought it two years ago from Tricare but the company says it has been unable to break even. It says the closure will ensure the company can deliver high quality care at its three other facilities in the state's north and north-west. News Source :- http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/19/2424071.htm
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A meeting of Wollondilly councillors has resolved to call an urgent meeting with the New South Wales Minister for Health regarding an historic aged care facility. Mayor Michael Banasik says there is community concern the Queen Victoria Memorial Home at Picton could be sold. Councillor Banasik says the Opposition health spokeswoman, Jillian Skinner, raised the concerns when the state mini-Budget was announced last week. He says the potential sale of the 100-year-old facility is causing angst in the community. "Our council totally opposes any sale of the site, we want it to be retained as a health facility," he said. "That's not to say we don't mind the State Government looking at a partnership role with some of the private operators, but it's a real icon in our community." News Source :- http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/19/2423764.htm
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AUSTRALIA'S most dangerous workplace is emerging as Centrelink, with staff on the welfare frontline subject to serious abuse and death threats. Public servants were being threatened with baseball bats, knives and even a chainsaw, a new report has shown. Some threats were implied but nevertheless frightening, such as the officer who received a cartoon of himself hanging from a noose. Some Centrelink offices have been set on fire while staff making home visits have been attacked with toasters, glass flagons and ashtrays. The national survey of Centrelink staff, who have only minimal security, revealed workers often had to cope with furniture being smashed and serious crimes, including a siege. The Rudd Government is considering installing wall-to-wall security across its welfare agency network amid reports that four in five staff have received threats at work. The Community and Public Sector Union's survey of 330 workers found they were regularly exposed to verbal abuse, death threats and even physical assaults. Centrelink, which employs 27,000 public servants in more than 300 offices around the country is responsible for distributing tens of billions of dollars in welfare and family payments a year. One manager reported that "countless" staff had been beaten up by angry welfare recipients. The CPSU said a third of those surveyed had received death threats and nearly two-thirds were verbally abused in the past three months. Part of the problem was blamed on tougher eligibility rules for welfare payments and cutbacks which have led to long queues and waiting times for the tens of thousands of Australians attending Centrelink offices, the CPSU said. CPSU national secretary Stephen Jones called for urgent action. He said: "No one should have to come to work expecting that there is a chance they are going to get assaulted. This is one of the toughest places in Australia to work." The CPSU survey reports that public servants are not safe even after they leave the workplace. Despite the police being regularly called into handle difficult cases, staff were exposed to attacks outside the office where they are even more vulnerable, the union claims. Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig, responsible for Centrelink, said he was willing to consider a much tougher line on security. He recently visited New Zealand, where its peak welfare agency has a security officer in every office. Senator Ludwig said he was prepared to embrace the New Zealand model if that is the best possible solution to breaking the cycle of violence against public servants. "I don't have a one-tick solution (but) we need to address it," Senator Ludwig said. News Source :- http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24346553-5007133,00.html
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HIGH-ROLLING welfare cheats are splurging millions of dollars in casinos across Australia. They include a Victorian man who gambled $12.9 million at Crown Casino's tables despite collecting $224 a week on the dole. A Centrelink probe has uncovered the gambling habits of 2300 pensioners and unemployed who spent at least $50,000 on casino chips each. Thirty welfare recipients - including nine Victorians - spent more than $1 million gambling at casinos. Police are investigating amid suspicions of money laundering by crime syndicates. The probe matched Centrelink files with casino records from May 2006 to November 2007. More than 820 Victorian welfare cheats were caught - more than any other state - with almost everyone betting at Crown. Among the dole cheats were: MORE than 40 cases involving amounts between $500,000 and $1 million. A MAN with hidden overseas assets, aged 65, who was on the dole when he gambled $668,000 at Crown. A MAN, 65, who gambled $4.6 million at Crown despite being on the dole. A DISABILITY pensioner, 35, who bought $805,000 worth of chips at Crown, was found to have undeclared bank holdings of $300,000. The benefits of the big-betting Centrelink customers have been frozen and they have been asked to explain their gambling. Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig said the investigation was aimed at major welfare cheats. "Welfare payments are a safety net. They are not for people who can afford to spend $12.9 million on gambling in a casino," he said. "The Rudd Government has a zero-tolerance approach to Australians who try to rip off the Australian welfare system." Casinos are required to turn over information to authorities under anti-money laundering laws introduced after the September 11 terror attacks. Crown spokesman Gary O'Neill said the casino was happy to co-operate with government agencies under the law. "Crown has a very co-operative working relationship with a number of government agencies, both at state and federal level," he said. "We are very familiar with (the legislation) and we adhere to it absolutely." The data-matching involves the use of casino information on gamblers who receive extra hospitality because they bet regularly and at a high level. "When they (authorities) identify the customer and request information from us in relation to that person, then we provide that information," Mr O'Neill said. Centrelink was given $138 million in this year's Budget to investigate suspicious claims. A similar operation in 2005-06 uncovered 319 welfare recipients who gambled between $100,000 and $4.6 million. Information gained in that operation has saved taxpayers $3.5 million in the years since. About 20 per cent of those identified in that operation were on Newstart Allowance, 17 per cent were disability pensioners, and 30 per cent were aged pensioners. The rest were on a range of benefits, including the carers' allowance and various family payments. News Source :- http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24667868-1243,00.html
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The aged care sector's warned the Federal Government it is reaching crisis point. The Aged Care Association's annual conference in Hobart has been told that some care providers are facing bankruptcy, when they should be preparing for increased demand from an ageing population. The association's chairman, Brian Dorman, says Commonwealth Government funding has not kept pace with costs. He says restrictive regulations mean the industry cannot find solutions without Government help. "We have had a substantial fall in profitability," he said. "A recent report by Grant Thornton, independent auditors, assessed 700 aged care providers and found that their operating returns were dropping to about 1 per cent." News Source :- http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/18/2422548.htm
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Police are investigating several cases of welfare fraud after a Centrelink investigation found some recipients are spending millions of dollars on gambling.
The welfare agency examined the gambling habits of more than 2,000 pensioners and unemployed people who spent at least $50,000 at casinos around the country. One welfare recipient gambled almost $13 million. Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig says the people are welfare cheats and police are investigating. "There's no other way to put it. A number of cases have been referred to the director of public prosecutions for consideration of prosecutorial action," he said. "What it's about is protecting taxpayers' money, but it's more than that, it's about ensuring welfare payments are a safety net, they're not for spending $12.9 million on gambling in a casino." News Source :- http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/18/2422451.htm?section=justin
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