Debate on Familia Piety and Government Responsibility for Aged Care in Australia

Introduction

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
The financial burden which the government globally subject themselves to in order to take
care of all the senior citizens of their country which are left for good or are estranged from their
children is becoming repeatedly expensive over the last few decades (Harris and Sharma, 2018).
The recent data which has been presented by the government and has been reported by economic
experts also provide credence to this line of thought as the period of 2020-21 saw the Australian
government spend $23.6 Billion on aged care which is a major expenditure which might not be
justifiable in the modern post pandemic economic scenario which has left the government and
the nation reeling. The main topic of this debate is that “families should be responsible for
bearing the burden of care for their elderly relatives and not rely on government services
to prevent escalating costs of aged care. Familia piety is a value of Asian cultures that
should be espoused in Australia more widely to prevent the overuse of in-home care and
aged care facility services”.
One of the most important concepts of the Confucian school of thought is the value of Filial
Piety which means out of respect for parents and it highlights the love that people should have
towards their parents in all aspects and routines of life irrespective of their personal conditions.
Asian cultures in comparison to Australian culture are much more focused on taking care of their
elderly as a part of family responsibility and hence are much less dependent on government
sponsored elderly aid. The core essence of argument on the basis of which this debate will be
constructed is whether or not the responsibility of taking care of the aged population should fall
on the government or on the families and whether or not adoption of Asian values is a worthy
undertaking for Australia to reduce costs of aged care. The affirmative arguments in this debate
will focus on the rising costs of aged care, the burden on the government as a result and how
Familia Piety can help better the societal fabric of Australia as a nation. The negative arguments
on the other hand will focus on aged care being a governmental responsibility, aged care being
an imprint part of public administration and democratic governance and families being incapable
of affording critical healthcare in a damage economy.
The major point which goes very far in affirming the topic of the debate is that indeed,
the costs of aged care have been escalating at a very high pace to the point where it has become a
burden on the Australian government. The cost of residential aged care in particular is becoming
quite taxing as $14.1 Billion was spent by the government from 2020-21 and the interest rates in
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