Australia's aged care reforms promised a system built more firmly around the rights and needs of older people.

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One year after the new Aged Care Act came into effect, attention now must turn to a fundamental question: who will deliver that care as Australia grows older?

Australia is already facing a projected shortfall of 110,000 aged care workers over the next decade.

Clearly we need more people working in aged care.

But international research led by Federation University shows the challenge is much bigger than workforce numbers alone.

Supporting an ageing population will require greater attention to where our professional workforce is located and the skills it has - but also to the family members, friends and regional communities who provide care every day.

Published in Frontiers in Public Health, our research brings together 21 analyses from researchers across Australia, China, the United States, Europe and beyond to examine what is needed to support ageing populations.

One of the clearest challenges is geography.

Our research highlights the growing mismatch between where older populations live and where appropriately trained health professionals are located, particularly in regional and rural areas.

That matters because simply adding workers to the system will not necessarily improve access to care.

Australia needs appropriately trained professionals where older people actually live, with the skills to respond to increasingly complex health and care needs.

And this challenge is only going to grow.

Many regions globally are expected to see the number of people aged 65 and over roughly double between 2012 and........

© Canberra Times