Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wide Bay for his ongoing interest in this issue. I've enjoyed visiting your seat and talking to people who receive home care packages. What has been great is today the Prime Minister and I had the pleasure of meeting with Ray and Wendy White and with Louise in her home in Canberra, and what both of them talked about was the importance of choice in having access to home-care packages. Ray talked about the level of services he receives that allows him to stay home with his wife, otherwise he would be in aged care and they would be separated. We want to keep couples together and this enables that. Louise talked about her husband, who experienced cancer for seven years. She talked about the fact that she was his carer because the home care package enabled that. The grandchildren would come over through the back fence, sit on the bed with Poppy and talk to him about his history and his stories and they would share quality time.

We are committed to making sure Australians have choices around their pathways. Home care packages are now seeing more and more Australians make the decision to stay at home longer. Carers are being supported as well. Our latest data reveals that 77,918 older Australians were supported by home care packages as at 31 December 2017, a 12-month increase of 9,261, or 13.5 per cent. Under our government, funding for aged care is up, home care package funding is up and residential places are up. It is important that we provide a range of opportunities to allow families to remain and enjoy the company of their community. Both Ray and Louise this morning made the comment, along with Wendy, that what they love about home care packages is that they are living near their friends, they are part of a neighbourhood and they are part of their community. We will continue to provide the level of service that gives them dignity within their community and the level of support that enables them to live their life fully.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Those who choose the residential aged care pathway, Member for Sydney, will have that option, so we are giving people options on both sides. We have been examining the waiting lists and what we found on that, as I indicated in this chamber before, is that most people—up to 71 per cent—are in receipt of packages. A number who are on that list have not made a decision about what package they want to have—84 days—so there is choice even in that. Some have refused the level that they have been provided, because they intend to focus on wanting the high-level package before they receive the lesser. (Time expired)

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