The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care has extended two contracts to Accenture to support the delivery of IT capabilities in the aged care sector over the next two years.
Last month, in July, the IT services giant was awarded contracts worth around AU$300 million ($200 million) – AU$289 million ($190 million) and AU$10.5 million ($7 million) – to support the delivery of technology to support the new Aged Care Act. Specifically, Accenture was tasked with designing and implementing workforce application solutions on the Salesforce MuleSoft platform.
“This workforce augmentation supports the temporary needs of the reform initiatives, while ensuring the ongoing capacity and ability to sustain the aged care digital ecosystem into the future is maintained within the department’s permanent workforce,” a department spokesperson said.
“Accenture will continue to strengthen sustainability [Australian Public Service] workforce, along with other service integration units in a competitive environment among multiple providers of the department, during a period of significant reform and digital enhancement for the aged care sector.”
In a new report on progress in aged care reform, Acting Inspector General for Aged Care Ian Yates said systemic workforce issues persist, including under-resourced care, severe nursing staff shortages, limited professional development and workplace support, and “have not been fully addressed by current reforms”.
THE BIGGER CONTEXT
Last year, the department also signed a A$156.9 million ($100 million) contract with Accenture to design and implement a new IT system for aged care providers. The Government Provider Management System (GPMS) replaces the two-decade-old National Approved Provider System. A key initiative outlined in A 10-year digital healthcare plan, GPMS allows aged care providers to self-manage, view and maintain their records with the government.
“With the base solution in place, the department is continuing to develop new functionalities and components on the GPMS portal to meet the ongoing requirements of planned reform measures, new government policy initiatives and legislative requirements,” a department spokesperson said.
The Australian government has so far invested at least A$1.5 billion ($990 million) in IT modernisation in the aged care sector. This follows recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which found the sector was “entirely analogue” and “lagging behind” in adopting digital technologies. An initial Budget 2022 has allocated A$312.6 million ($200 million) to respond to the royal commission’s 30 ICT-related recommendations. Budget 2024 has earmarked at least A$1.2 billion ($790 million) for “significant technology and platform maintenance and enhancements”.
