More desperate stories from middle class hell.
Try being poor. Nursing homes are the least of their worries!

A private industry apologists approach,I believe, with the usual obfuscating disingenuous claims of complexity? WRONG!

The four corners/fairfax expose, is likely to be the tip of a massive iceberg of price gouging/corrupt behavior, marked by a level of calloused indifference as to beggar belief; that reportedly has beset this shameful INDUSTRY/MARKET/SHAM!

But only because some rather remarkable "right wing" conservative ideologues, have allowed political dogma and insane ideology to replace, not only reason and logic, but every trace of Christian compassion as well! JAWOHL MEIN HERR!

And therefore, have not only made this "INDUSTRY" into a highly profitable, inhumane ("human meat) MARKET! But invited, tax avoiding, asset stripping, profit repatriation, foreigners, as head honchos/principle investors!?

These old, frail, defenceless and now very vulnerable Aussie old folk sacrificed, without protest or exception to build the first world nation/economy, we inherited!

And this is how we thank them for the billions in squandered taxes and squandered opportunity, as we sell our heritage and their twilight years, "FREEDOM"!

Diabolically despicable, detestable, unconscionable, inexcusable behavior of the first water! And words fail me!

That no amount of high price spin or doctoring can ever hope to fix!

The operators need to be stripped of their licence to operate and their australian assets frozen until these matters are fully resolved in the affirmative! Our/your mums and dads deserve no less!

Failure to respond should see this become a major election issue and a call for widespread de-privatisation of essential services/human rights to universal dignity, even in their dotage!

Everyone has a mum and dad; and will grow old themselves one day!
Alan B.

The situation portrayed on 4 Corners must be Sydney-centric; it could not occur in SA under the Retirement Villages Act. There seems to be some confusion between retirement villages and nursing homes, too. To live in a retirement village in SA you need to be independent. There is no question of being 'looked after' by the operator. And, as residents buy a licence-to-occupy (no freehold), any maintenance is the responsibility of the operator, not the residents. Operators are legally obliged to pay out the families of ex-residents within 12 months.

Lazy, disinterested politicians, not private enterprise, seems to be the problem with what AVEO is getting away with in NSW.

I've got news for you folks. It's not only in NSW.
It's happening right here in Victoria where not only
AVEO has a lot to answer, as the 4 corners program
clearly showed but there's another contender by the
name of ALLITY that should be investigated.

And I'm
speaking from personal experience here. My mother was
in a retirement village for over a decade under another
management when ALLITY took over the management of the
facility. Since then over the past couple of years they
managed to push many of the residents out, including
my mother from whom they purchased her unit at a
fraction of the cost that she'd paid.

Mum is now in a nursing home.
We ended up having to help her financially. In the
meantime ALLITY sold my mother's unit for more than
triple the price. I won't go into any further details
but what 4 corners showed in its program - is merely the
tip of the iceberg. What these companies are getting away
with is disgraceful and very few of our elderly can afford
to fight back.

We need a government investigation into our aged care
facilities that is for sure. Laws need to be changed
to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

Foxy

The Capitalist ripp-off. You may call them Capitalist pigs, but your too polite!
The middle class are easy picking in this country. Their biggest enemy after themselves is the Government.
Be assured though, the transplanting with Chinese, of the middle class is well underway.

Dear DD,

There must be a better way for this country to provide
a safe secure environment for our elderly when they are
the most vulnerable in their old age. Mum and dad worked
hard all of their lives, paid taxes, and raised a family.
Dad passed away many years ago. Mum was left on her own,
but she still managed.

She did not deserve to get the
treatment that she did from a large organisation that
supposedly was there for her benefit. It wasn't. It was
there for her money. And she's not the only one that was
taken advantage of. That has to change and our governments
need to look into aged care and what is really happening.
So many organisations are reaping in billions at the
expense of the elderly. This needs to be put up for
investigation prior to the next election. We'll all be old
one day - currently this is affecting our parents - tomorrow
it will be us and our children and grandchildren in the years
ahead. We can't just continue to ignore this.