Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to get the opportunity to speak in front of you, Deputy Speaker Laundy. Today I rise once again to add my voice to the countless voices of my community who are demanding that governments take action seriously to the threats to our population through lack of access to quality, affordable aged care. It's always good to follow my friend Dr Freelander, the member for Macarthur, who is very well versed and knowledgeable in this area. His expertise is something we are lucky to have on this side of the House.

The report highlights what so many in our communities are shouting from the rooftops: we don't have enough places to provide care, and we don't have enough carers to do the task with dignity and respect that our ageing friends and family deserve. It was only last week in the House that I was speaking on behalf of thousands of concerned residents who lent their voices to the Doreen Seniors Club petition 'Spotlight on Aged Care', which was calling on governments to establish an aged-care facility in Mernda or Doreen to meet the needs of the growing north. This is one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia.

The urgent need for increased access and service can be seen in full view. We know it, our communities know it. The only ones who don't seem to understand these issues, and haven't for years, are governments. Time and time again, on this side of the House, we've asked the government to address the fact that the aged-care system is in a state of crisis. With that in mind, I take this opportunity to once again address this issue that is critical to our community. I seek leave to table a petition signed by 2,000 local residents of Doreen and Mernda and surrounding areas. The petition calls on governments to take action in our local community and make the necessary investment to bring critical aged care to our community.

Leave granted.

I thank the intelligent members of the government for letting this through, because it's vitally important that we address all calls from the community, because that inquiry is just not enough. Reports like this one that we are discussing here today are important. But what's needed, as the member for Macarthur said, is real action and a real plan. There have been several inquiries over the years into problems in the aged-care sector, which the government has simply refused to act on. We know from this report, and from the stories we hear from local residents, that the quality standards and reporting system just aren't working. There aren't enough aged-care workers, and they aren't given the right pay or respect or support they need.

Despite what the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government might have you believe, you don't fix aged care by cutting funding. The opposition leader and the shadow minister for aging and mental health have already written to the Prime Minister, urging him to broaden the terms of reference of the recently announced royal commission to include a range of issues that at this point seem to be totally ignored. Billions of dollars have been cut from aged care in the last five years under the Liberal-National Party government. The current Prime Minister cut almost $2 billion in his first year as Treasurer, and we wonder why there's a crisis! There are 108,000 people on the Home Care Package waiting list; 88,000 of those have critical high needs, many living with dementia. Those 108,000 Australians deserve some answers, they deserve respect and they deserve dignity.

We should judge ourselves as a nation by how we treat our elderly and, right now, it's fair to say we are failing the basic test. How can we call ourselves a fair and generous country if we can't give elderly Australians the love, the care and the comfort in their sunset years that they deserve? With the ever-revolving cabinet door—three ministers in five years—and billions of dollars cut, the government has ignored dozens of its own reports and reviews of what's needed to fix the problem. Only after a shocking report on Four Corners did we see any movement. These reviews and reports have been allowed to collect dust instead of being acted upon. It shouldn't take bad press to get some action. We shouldn't wait for the minister to say, 'Look, if it lands on my desk, I might have a look at it, but otherwise let it go.' We shouldn't only care about ageing citizens when they are in desperate crisis.

We also know the roles of nurses and personal care workers in looking after of our older Australians are absolutely critical, and will become increasingly important as demand continues to grow. Labor also understand the important roles other health professionals such as GPs, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and dietitians play when you look at a holistic approach to the wellbeing of our older Australians. The number of people aged 85 years is rapidly increasing when comparing it with younger age groups; it is projected to double by 2032. What we are going to need is a tripling of the aged-care workforce in the next 30 years to provide a standard of living and care for this growing proportion of older Australians. Where is the plan to address the shortfall? It's nowhere. Where's the focus on quality training and retraining in the aged-care space? It's gone with the wind.

Reports show us that the predicted aged-care workforce will need to increase from around 366,000 people to around one million people by 2050. So what did the government do? After the 2013 election they dumped Labor's $1.5 billion workforce compact and supplement. That totally undid the groundwork for a comprehensive aged-care workforce development strategy to address those issues of training, staffing levels and an ageing workforce.

It wasn't until almost five years later that the government finally addressed some of these issues with the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce in the 2017-18 budget—a day late and a dollar short. We know that, in order to address the shortfalls in aged care and to meet the growing demand, the government must work with unions and aged-care providers to implement a clear strategy. I mean an actual strategy—one that considers issues such as the proposal for 24-hour registered nurse coverage at residential aged-care facilities.

Whether it is aged-care providers, workers or consumers, the message up till now has been frustratingly consistent. It has been one of reaction or inaction. The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government can and should get proactive to ensure that we have an adequately skilled and equipped aged-care workforce to care for our population as they age. While the chaotic and divided Liberals have fought amongst themselves the care of older Australians has been neglected.

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