The Morrison government is giving aged care providers a $3.2 billion handout, with no obligation to spend it on residents.

The federal Budget gave aged care operators a $10 daily supplement for every resident. How will that money – $3.2 billion over four years – be spent?

Will it go to residents, perhaps in the form of better food and adequate staff to prepare meals? Or will it go to executive perks, flash offices and company profits?

The royal commission recommended a $10 increase to the basic daily fee ($52.71) as the minimum necessary to keep the sector afloat.

The commission said bad food was among the top three complaints from residents.

Annie Butler, Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) says the $10 increase comes with no strings attached – despite evidence of some providers misusing funds.

“We don’t know whether that money will go to better food and/or more staff, because the government hasn’t adequately addressed the need for more transparency and accountability,” she said.

“Some providers will choose to do the right thing and invest in care. Many may not.”

The government has taken steps to improve governance and accountability in residential aged care.

From 1 July 2022, providers will be required to publish care-staffing minutes for each facility on the My Aged Care website.

Providers will also be required to report to residents and their families on care delivered. The Budget gave no details on what happens if they don’t report and publish.

At the same time, a star-rating system on the My Aged Care website will be introduced for residential aged care.

However, the ANMF says the measures do not go far enough. Many independent experts agree.

Dr Sarah Russell, spokesperson for the group Aged Care Reform Now, says that without financial transparency, unscrupulous providers will continue to put profits before care.

“We will continue to see neglect, negligence and abuse in age care homes,” she warns.

Dr Russell said at the top of residents’ minds are staff who have time to spend with them and food they like. In some aged care homes, they get neither.

“You have to tie how providers spend the money,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“If you have no control, in so many cases the money won’t go to the people it is intended to go to. This is just pouring more money into a dysfunctional system.”

The government has failed to implement a royal commission recommendation that homes guarantee appropriate nutrition for residents and show how much they spend on residents’ basic needs, “especially their nutritional needs”.

The government says that the $10-a-day supplement will only be paid to homes once they have agreed to report their food expenditure quarterly.