Aged Care Peak Body Merger Fails
10 February 2012 at 2:30 pm
Less than a year after the national peak body for Not for Profit aged care providers Aged and Community Services Australia announced its plans to merge with the for-profit Aged Care Association Australia, the ACSA board has resolved to no longer pursue the merger.
Following Wednesday’s board meeting in Canberra, the ASCA announced that consultation with member states indicated that there was “insufficient support for this change to occur, which in itself would have been a complex process”.
The ASCA says the board reaffirmed its commitment that “given the urgency to focus on a once in a lifetime aged care reform opportunity, as well as the need to actively influence the emerging Not for Profit environment – which includes the nascent establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) – it would be focusing its full attention on the importance of these priorities to the Not for Profit sector.”
ACSA National President Rob Hankins said that despite the decision not to progress with the merger, widespread support across the sector for wholesale reforms remains essential during this critical period.
In July last year Pro Bono Australia reported the news of the proposed merger and that ACSA President Klaus Zimmermann had said that the ACSA Board had resolved to seek support of its state members for the merged national body.
The question of a merger has been in discussions for more than 12 months, with ASCA having investigated a range of options for the restructure.
A taskforce of three ACSA board members oversaw the process of negotiation for a new organisation.
Rob Hankins said: “ACSA will continue to cooperate closely with other relevant bodies such as NACA to seek unity on national reform issues and will seek to further its close working relationship with ACAA by strengthening the Aged Care Industry Council advocacy process.”
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