She Was The Watchdog for the Sandwich Generation | Natalie Siegel-Brown, Former Inspector General for Aged Care | Club Sandwich

Natalie Siegel-Brown spent years holding the government to account for the funding, administration and regulation of Australia's aged care system as the Inspector General of Aged Care. She's also part of the sandwich generation herself, raising an 11-year-old while supporting her own ageing parents. Ageing parents? You've got them. We've got you. JOIN THE CLUB: Visit clubsandwich.community to join the tribe, access resources, and find our private Facebook community. SEND US YOUR QUESTION: hello@clubsandwich.community In this episode: The Conversation: Natalie brings both her professional expertise and her own experience as a sandwich generation parent to unpack why a system built on compassion and dignity in law still fails the sandwich generation in practice — through year-long wait times, punishing co-payments, and a contested assessment algorithm. This Week's Hack: Get in early. Don't wait for a crisis to start the aged care assessment process — the wait itself is often what accelerates decline. Listener Letter / Send-this-to: Send this to anyone who feels gaslit by the aged care system and just wants to understand why it's this hard. Topics covered in this episode: \- Natalie's own experience as a sandwich generation parent, alongside her expertise as the former Inspector General of Aged Care \- The real cost of long aged care wait times, financially and personally \- Co-payments, and how they hit pensioners hardest \- The contested aged care assessment algorithm \- What Denmark, Singapore and Thailand do differently \- Australia's own hidden success story: the Veterans' Care Nursing Program Meet the regular Clubbers: Melissa Reader — CEO of Vera and expert on Australia's ageing crisis. Jo Lamble — Clinical psychologist specialising in guilt and family dynamics. Dr Ginni Mansberg — GP and women's health advocate who tells it straight. Dr Stephanie Ward — Geriatrician helping you understand when "old" becomes a crisis. Kerry Milligan — Gogglebox star bringing humour and honesty to the sandwich generation. This episode was supported by Australian Unity, home health and care services — australianunity.com.au/clubsandwich. Vera is your candid companion as you care for an ageing parent. Have a look at https://vera.guide. FACES (Families for Aged Care Equity and Support) is a family-led campaign asking for one honest count of the number of people waiting for their aged care funding and the people who die while they're waiting. Add your name at vera.guide/faces. Put The Kettle On — Vera's free conversation guide: the five questions worth asking your ageing mum or dad, at putthekettleon.com.au Credits: Sarah Macdonald – Host + Executive Producer Melissa Reader – Commissioning Editor, Executive Producer + Clubber Justin McArthur – Executive Producer + Editor for P. Zinner Podcasts (https://pzinner.com.au) Thanks and kudos to Sean Wayland for our theme music Club Sandwich — hear more at https://seanwayland.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.