LASA Q Focus Magazine - Leading Age Services Australia ...

WORKFORCENonetheless, significant issuesremain for employers, such as:••the likely shortfall betweenwhat the Supplement willcost employers to implement(both directly and indirectly)and any additional funding;••recent and future changes toACFI which could negativelyimpact on funding forresidential facilities, thusfurther reducing capacity topay;••whether or not indexationwill apply (given it waseffectively not paid for the2012-13 year) and if so, howmuch;••the long-term future ofSupplement payments (i.e.beyond 2016-17);••calculations of the additionalfunding and its distributionfor multi-site organisations;••whether or not implementingthe Supplement will makeany real difference inattraction and retentionfactors in the sector.A recent Catholic Healthcaresurvey indicated that up to 40%of their membership was unlikelyto sign up to the Supplement.Given that very few of theorganisations with whom thewriter is in constant contacthave indicated that they will besigning up, a 60% take-up ratemight be an optimistic view.The reality is that the sectoris already under significantfinancial pressure in deliveringthe current level of services in aheavily regulated environment.Disappointingly, that pressureis unlikely to be eased by theWorkforce Supplement as it isknown at the time of writing.Scott LucasMiles Witt PartnershipLASA-Q Focus | Autumn edition 2013 19