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

Member for Franklin, you talk about reduction in funding. When we came to government, Labor had invested $13.1 billion in aged care. Over the forward estimates, that increased to $18.6 billion, and in the forward years, the next four years, that will become $23.6 billion. We are increasing it, and we have been increasing it, by $1 billion a year. It is a significant increase. Home care packages were not known under the Labor government, because the packages were provided to the aged-care providers, who had lists of people, and those lists were not known definitively. When I first came into my seat, I asked aged-care providers how many people were on their lists. The numbers were significant, and people were dying on those lists. On 27 February last year, we moved to having a national listing so that we had an understanding of the number of people who required packages who were receiving them. Whilst the numbers have increased, we also have increased our commitment, raising the number from 87,000 to 151,000 over the forward estimates. We also provided additional funding through MYEFO to create immediately 6,000 level 4 packages, and we increased it in the subsequent budget by another 14,000.

I want to say that we are committed to providing older Australians with access to care that supports their dignity and recognises the contribution that they have made to our society. Australians are living longer and improvements to health mean they are more likely to remain active for longer. The 2015 Intergenerational report identified that people aged over 85, the group most likely to need aged care, will be the fastest growing group in Australia over the next 40 years. There will also be an increasing number of people with dementia who need specialised care and support and increasingly people who use their aged-care services will want to be cared for in their own homes.

The member made a comment that I changed my mind. Yes, I did. I did based on evidence, and that evidence wasn't just a set of figures. It was also photographic evidence that I'm not prepared to table, because it goes to individuals whose level of care within aged-care facilities begs the question of what it was that resulted in what I saw in those images. In talking through and considering other elements of what I have at my disposal as a minister—in my visits to aged care and in meeting with Noleen Hausler, sitting with her and watching five video clips—I have for some time been considering the way in which we tighten the quality standards that are absolutely critical to ensuring that people are cared for.

Whilst five years seems a long time, when you look back at the Productivity Commission report, when that was tabled, the period of turning the action into legislation was important in the way it was designed. It is no different to the Carnell-Patterson report, from which we put into place a number of measures that are absolutely critical. But in creating the commission, there was a need to ensure that those very issues of sanctions and responsibility for the end-decision point, around the way in which you would make a decision about a provider and their failure, came into play. Since the Oakden inquiry, 14 aged-care providers have been sanctioned. Four no longer exist because they did not meet the standards that were required under the existing act.

What's important is that we've not fallen asleep in dealing with the issues in aged care. I know that each time I've been into an aged care facility and each time I have talked to all of the relevant elements that make up the responsibility in government for aged care, there have been reactions. Together, the Prime Minister and I have been looking closely at aged care for almost a year. A year ago, I had a discussion about the need to consider that we as a society are living from zero to 100. Today the Prime Minister indicated the number of Australians who will live to over 100. That has policy implications on many fronts, not just in aged care. Whilst I'm focused on aged care, there are other matters in terms of enabling Australians to have better choices and to live longer lives.

This has been carefully considered; I have been closely monitoring reports and reviews and have been acutely aware of the numbers. There is mounting evidence that despite wide-ranging reforms and annual funding increases, there continues to be significant incidents of completely unacceptable, substandard care which must be addressed. In the past two years, complaints have risen 47 per cent from 3,211 to 4,315. In the past year, with the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency, unannounced review audits are up 323 per cent. Serious risks were found to be up 177 per cent. Revoked accreditations have tripled. Almost one home a month have had their accreditation revoked since the Oakden report on May 2017. In the past year, referrals to the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency from the Department of Health are up 188 per cent. Notices of quality non-compliance are up 185 per cent. Sanctions imposed are up 136 per cent. Our rigorous reform program will continue as the royal commission goes about its work.

Immediately after Oakden, we commissioned the Review of national aged care quality regulatory processes. We have actioned the 10 recommendations, including unannounced quality audits and the creation of the new tough cop on the beat, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. We have worked through the 2017 legislative review of aged care and responded in the 2018 budget with the More Choices for A Longer Life Package, supporting active ageing and providing an extra $1.6 billion for home care. We have legislated new aged-care quality standards, the first upgrade in 20 years. Just last week, we released Australia's first aged-care workforce strategy to rapidly grow the professional-care workforce.

I want to acknowledge the contribution that workers in aged care make. We stand with all Australians in supporting the overwhelming majority of the nation's more than 2,700 aged-care homes who provide quality care. We applaud the more than 360,000 dedicated staff who provide care of such high quality, many of whom have dedicated their entire careers to supporting our elderly and most vulnerable. We also applaud the world-class care and culture of continuous improvement implemented by aged-care providers across the nation. But, like all Australians, we cannot, and will not, accept instances of poor quality or unsafe care. The aged-care system must be prepared for a major increase in demand, with the number of senior Australians requiring aged-care services projected to reach 3.5 million by 2050. The number of people living with dementia is expected to increase to more than one million by mid-century. Despite the $5 billion aged-care boost announced in the recent federal budget, there are concerns that funding and regulatory arrangements for the sector will not be sustainable and require expansion.

Our focus on the needs of senior Australians has not diminished. We will continue to ensure that the work that we do and we've continued in conjunction with the aged-care sector—the providers, the department, all key stakeholders, the carers and the Older Persons Advocacy Network—will be done in tandem together to make sure that what is provided is of quality and that where there is risk it will be called out. I would encourage staff to use the 1800550552 number to lodge their concerns. It is confidential and we've had staff ring that number. The agencies shown in Four Corners last night will receive a visit from the relevant agencies to follow up on the issues raised in the Four Corners program. That will occur this week. I will continue to work with our government to make sure that the matters shown in Four Corners are addressed. I rang Four Corners after the program last night and acknowledged that their stories provided insight into those matters that a quality agency would not have seen—particularly the night-time events—and that the staff, if they ring, will enable the quality agency to become involved. (Time expired)

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