Aged care providers want a pending royal commission to provide clarity on how to deal with Australia’s ageing population.

The federal government announced an inquiry into residential and in-home care on Sunday, following a string of cases involving abuse against nursing home residents.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says when Australians make the challenging decisions of how their loved ones will be looked after, they need to have confidence in the sector.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt tells Alan Jones there are “two main reasons” for the inquiry.

“One is to protect and the second is to prepare.

“The overall number of people who will be over 85 will grow 3.8 times, nearly four times, from 2015 to 2055.

“Over four decades, we’ll go from 500,000 to 1.9 million over the age of 85.

“So that means we’ve got a grand national challenge, more investment than ever, more focus on compliance.

“But you never care enough, you’ve got to focus on each of these individuals.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview 

CEO of the Aged Care Guild Matthew Richter has welcomed a royal commission into the sector.

He tells Ben Fordham it will “force action” and ultimately that will benefit consumers.

“I think the royal commission will find the overwhelming majority of providers do a really, really good job.

“But I think it will show some pretty horrible stories and that’s not good enough in the human services system in a first world country.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview