Navigating care and support systems

Care and support systems are complex and accessing them can be confusing for people who require care and support. This confusion can prevent people from receiving services they need when they need them. Surveys indicate that 67 per cent of people had a major or severe issue finding and getting good quality disability supports and services.³⁶ Older people and their families have also reported their experience trying to access appropriate care and support as “time-consuming, overwhelming, frightening and intimidating”.³⁷ Additionally, these challenges can be more acute among some populations, such as those from disadvantaged backgrounds, those who are culturally and linguistically diverse, or people who might fit the eligibility criteria of multiple programs. The existing framework can be equally confusing for care providers, the majority of whom must learn to use two or more service systems.

This confusion has costs attached. Informal carers and other friends and family often invest time and resources in supporting those needing care and support to navigate these systems. Providers and workers can also find themselves helping people to do this. In some cases, people pay private brokers to help navigate the systems so they can access the care and support they need. Government-funded programs have been rolled out to help people navigate complex care and support systems.³⁸ Making it easier for people to navigate these systems quickly and easily will improve access to quality care and support.

Another challenge for people in navigating their care and support options is gaining an understanding of how well a service will meet their needs, and a confidence that the service they are accessing is high quality. This requirement is supported to varying degrees by government-run websites. For example, the NDIS find-a-provider tool does not provide a way to gauge quality, while ECEC services have their latest quality assessment rating published. Recently, star ratings have been introduced to residential aged care to help consumers easily understand the quality of the service, and the lived experience of other residents. Much of the data used to calculate an aged care facility’s star rating is automatically populated from existing quarterly data already held by governments. 

Having good information is important to help service users make informed choices, which is necessary for well-functioning markets. There may be scope for the Australian Government to take a bigger role in providing digital platforms that help people navigate systems of care and support and provide reliable, trustworthy information about quality.

How digital platforms can assist

In today’s care and support economy there are digital find-a-provider platforms to help people find service providers. These include the NDIS myplace portal, Disability Gateway, My Aged Care, and the Starting Blocks website’s ‘Find Child Care’ tool. There are also other websites that are not managed by governments which people can use to research and connect with care and support providers.

It is not necessarily the role of government to maintain digital platforms to help people connect with providers; however, there may be good reason to do so to help markets function effectively.

There is variation between digital platforms. The platform may be run by a registered NDIS provider that employs workers, while others act as a conduit to connect participants to independent workers, who may not be registered NDIS providers. Non-government operated find-a-provider platforms also serve an important role to help people to find the supports they need, but they too aren't easily captured by current regulation, depending on the service they deliver.

One kind of digital platform which directly connects a person with a worker is sometimes referred to being part of the ‘gig economy.’ In aged care, such models account for only a small share of service delivery, but it is likely this will increase.³⁹ In the NDIS there are several well-established digital platforms that facilitate this kind of purchasing. Non-traditional business models such as those in the gig economy may have the potential to deliver good quality of care and support, and to operate efficiently. But as the care and support economy grows, these models can lag behind community expectations and existing regulation, particularly in regards to labour standards.

The Australian Government will continue to review regulatory settings to ensure that they safeguard high quality services, regardless of whether that service is engaged through traditional providers or through digital marketplaces.

The impact of digital platforms on workers is covered more under the Secure Work section of Goal 2: Decent jobs.

36. DSS (Department of Social Services) ‘Australia’s Disability Strategy: 2021-2031,’ DSS, December 2021 [25]; The Social Deck, ‘Right to Opportunity: Consultation Report to Help Shape the Next National Disability Strategy – Full Report,’ DSS, 2019. Return to footnote 36 ↩
37. Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, ‘Final Report - Care, Dignity and Respect: Volume 3A - The New System,’ March 2021 [160]; National Institute of Labour Studies, ‘2016 National Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey – The Aged Care Workforce,’ The Department of Health, March 2017, [21]. Return to footnote 37 ↩
38. e.g. Aged Care System Navigator; Australian Healthcare Associates, ‘Evaluation of the Aged Care System Navigator Measure – Final Report,’ Department of Health, April 2021.Return to footnote 38 ↩
39. Productivity Commission, ‘Aged Care Employment: Study Report: Overview,’ PC, October 2022, [10]. Return to footnote 39 ↩