Multinational Bupa has complex offshore structures and related party transactions;Opal Aged Care uses inter-company loans at inflated interest rates;Allity has paid no tax for two years;and some of the richest family-owned operators do not even issue financial reports.
Almost all nine big companies surveyed in a new report by the Tax Justice Network appear to use trusts as part of their company structures,which can obscure how much profit they are making.
Between them,the six largest for-profit companies were given over $2.17 billion in government subsidies – 72 per cent of their total revenue – and made profits of $210 million per year between 2016 and 2018.
Despite this,the nursing home companies and their lobby groups recently teamed up to complain that government funding was inadequate,saying 41 per cent of residential aged care providers were making a loss at December 2017.
However,the new report,commissioned by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation,shows that for-profit companies are making many millions of dollars from their operations,and a number of owners have prominent places on the rich-list.
Nursing and midwifery federation acting federal secretary Annie Butler said"there probably is a funding crisis for rural and remote"nursing homes,and smaller not-for-profit providers,but the for-profit side of the industry had plenty of money.
"Our members tell us that the money is being spent,but not on care. They buy shiny paintings,new buildings,and pay big management salaries,but ... they impose restrictions on goods like continence pads."