Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

First of all I thank all of the members for their contributions to what is a very important debate, and an area where I think across the parliament we have a shared view about providing increased support to carers. As all members would know, last night the Treasurer announced the government’s secure and sustainable pension reform to deliver a simpler, fairer and sustainable pension system to prepare Australia for the future, and making sure that we provide security and certainty to carers is central to our reform agenda.

As we have just heard, every day of their lives carers make sacrifices looking after the people that they love. The contribution that they make to the individuals and to the community is invaluable. Recognising that carers often live under significant financial pressure, this budget, which was delivered just last night, delivers pension increases for carer payment recipients as part of our reform package. It also delivers a new permanent carer supplement to replace the ad hoc one-off payments of the past. The carer’s supplement of $600 will be paid every year to carers receiving the carer payment, with an additional $600 a year for carer allowance recipients for each eligible person in their care. The existing child disability assistance payment of $1,000 a year for carers who are paid Carer Allowance (child) will continue. These significant benefits build on the government’s reform of what can only be described as a very restrictive eligibility requirement for Carer Payment (child), and it is all about making those arrangements fairer. Over the years, carers looking after children with severe disability or medical conditions have endured overly complex and restrictive eligibility criteria, denying many of them appropriate financial support.

The bill that we are finalising here in the House tonight delivers on our commitment to replace the narrow set of medical and behavioural criteria that are currently imposed on families seeking support through Carer Payment (child) with requirements based on how much care each child needs. The new measures contained in this bill are part of an $822 million package from the 2008 budget to support and recognise carers. This bill is the government’s legislative commitment following the report of the task force for the Carer Payment (child) Review, which found that the restrictive and overly rigid assessment process created inequitable outcomes.

Carer payment is an income support payment for carers who, because of the demands of their caring role, are unable to support themselves through substantial participation in the workforce. Due to the narrow set of medical and behavioural criteria that have existed up until now, the payment is currently received by around 7,400 carers of children with a severe disability. The amendments, which will hopefully go through the parliament very soon, will deliver a new, fairer set of qualification criteria for carer payment, meaning that an estimated 19,000 more carers will have access to the carer payment from 1 July 2009. The new assessment will be known as the Disability Care Load Assessment (child) and it will improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of assessments even in complex cases. These could include circumstances where children have multiple carers, where carers have multiple care receivers and where care is required for an adult with a disability at the same time as a child with disability.

Administration procedures will also be improved with better claims processing and the capacity for more complex claims to be handled by a dedicated complex claims assessment team. The Disability Care Load Assessment (child) will be established by a legislative instrument. The instrument will allow a test, comprising a carer questionnaire, and a treating health practitioner questionnaire, which will be used to assess the functional ability, behaviour and special care needs of children under 16, and the level of care provided by their carers. It will also include the assessment of eligibility for carer payment across a wide range of household situations, including where there is more than one child or more than one carer. The test will provide a method for determining a qualifying rating for the carer based on the level of care associated with caring for a child or children with severe disability or a severe medical condition.

The draft of this legislative instrument has been provided to stakeholders, who have in turn provided feedback which is now being considered by my department. As a result of this legislation, there will be access to carer payment paid on a short-term or episodic basis for the first time. Episodic care will cover care required for recurring conditions where the care recipient is aged under 16 years and where each episode is expected to last at least three months but less than six months. This could, for example, include treatments for medical conditions such as cancer, brain injury or mental illness. Short-term care will apply if the care recipient is aged under 16 years and has a condition that is expected to be short term—at least three months and less than six months—from a one-off incident. For example, an accident, a serious illness or a surgical intervention may mean a child needs constant care over the short term. Some short and intensive treatments for childhood cancer may also fall into this category.

We are also providing more generous arrangements for carers of children who are in hospital so that carers can keep their carer payment and, if payable, their carer allowance. Currently, the limit on payment in these circumstances is 63 days in a calendar year. This will be replaced by a 12-week review cycle. The qualification rules will also be relaxed in the tragic circumstances where a person is caring for a child with a terminal illness. The current criteria require a medical professional to certify that the child has a terminal condition and will not live for substantially longer than 12 months. This will be replaced by a more sensitive and less intrusive approach that assesses the average life expectancy for a child with the same or similar condition.

The bill also amends some of the carer allowance provisions in the social security law. The carer allowance is an income supplement for people who provide daily, at-home care and attention for an adult or child who has a physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability that is permanent and likely to affect the person for an extended period. Carer allowance is not means tested and may be paid in addition to an income support payment. The person in receipt of carer payment (child) will become automatically eligible for carer allowance.

The measures contained in this bill reflect the government’s determination to support carers in the most demanding and difficult circumstances—caring for a child with a severe disability or a severe medical condition. I commend the bill to the House and very much look forward to seeing this legislation implemented very shortly.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation for the bill announced.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

See this speech in context