Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The hoax perpetrated on older Australians by the Turnbull government in this year's budget is shameful. The 14,000 additional home care packages over three years announced in the budget does not come close to meeting the growing demand. What's worse is that the money taken to fund these home care packages has come from residential care funding as there is no more money in the budget for aged care—not a single dollar. We have over 100,000 older Australians waiting for home care. We have a waiting list that grew by 20,000 in six months. And what was the government's response? It was 14,000 packages to be released over three years.

I was first touched by this as a young pharmacist, when I visited a psychiatric aged-care facility. I walked in, was struck by the misery and had to walk out and walk back in again. Improvements have been made in my 20 years working with residential aged care as a pharmacist, but much more needs to be done. How does the Turnbull government think these families are going to manage while they wait—in some cases for a year and, in 300 cases, more than two years—for the support they urgently need? This leaves vulnerable people at risk. These are people like my late father, who lived with young onset dementia. He was at risk of falls, at risk of poor nutrition, at risk of missed medication—and, as a pharmacist, that particularly bothers me—at risk of missed medical appointments and at risk of loneliness and isolation. These risks are avoidable; if only the government would help families as they juggle the needs of their partner, mother, father, brother, sister or friend while trying to keep up with work or study or family or to just get by.

Then there are those older Australians who have no support at all, and there are many in our community on the Central Coast. On the Central Coast of New South Wales, we are an older population. One in five of us is aged over 65 and one in six of us, or 19,000 people, are employed in health care and social assistance. It's the biggest employer on the coast. It's where I worked for 10 years as a pharmacist in Wyong Hospital. Aged care matters on the Central Coast. I have previously told this House that on the Central Coast we have 750 people waiting for home care packages. That's people and families in urgent need and waiting right now. About two-thirds of those waiting have high needs. Many are living with dementia. Many need palliative care. Older people, people with high needs, people with dementia and their families cannot wait a year or two or more for the help that they need. They need it right now. Where is the urgency from the minister to address this crisis in communities?

Last week I spoke at a forum on the Central Coast organised by the Health Services Union, my union, called 'Our Turn To Care'. About 100 people rallied at the Central Coast Leagues Club to call for proper funding for aged-care services and better pay and conditions for the aged-care workers who care for them. We heard stories from aged-care workers that were just shocking—for example, that they had been told to wait until a person's incontinence pad was 70 per cent wet before it could be changed; that they were only allowed one pair of gloves per shift because a second pair would be too costly; and that the money spent on food per person per day in an aged-care facility is sometimes just $6.

Later in the week I attended an event at the Erina shopping centre called 'Celebrating Ageing Central Coast—valuing your wisdom, experience and knowledge' with the member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, who is in the chamber. It was organised by the NSW Elder Abuse Helpline & Resource Unit to celebrate ageing but also to put a spotlight on the important issue of elder abuse. I have seen the most severe forms of elder abuse while working in mental health inpatient units. The World Health Organization reports that one in 10 older people experience elder abuse and most of it is perpetrated by family members. Elder abuse is real and, sadly, it happens in our communities. Sometimes it's obvious—a grandparent being pushed into residential care so their family home can be sold—and sometimes it is invisible to others until a bank account dwindles and there's no money left to buy food or pay the electricity bill. As I mentioned, as a pharmacist at Wyong Hospital, I worked in the inpatient mental health units for 10 years and saw the most severe forms of elder abuse against older people living with major mental illness and against the parents of adult children with major mental illness. There are legal protections in place but we must do more.

Older Australians deserve quality care, dignity and respect. They are our mums and our dads. They are our grandmas and our grandpas. The Turnbull government must fix the home care crisis now. It is urgent. Older Australians and their families can't wait any longer. The government must come clean with the Australian people on the hoax it has perpetrated. There is no new money for aged care in this budget. Money for home care will come from residential care and services will inevitably be cut. The Turnbull government stands condemned for the aged-care crisis of its making. It must act now. It must act with urgency. It must act with compassion. It has to help people in need now.

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