Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the motion moved by the member for Bass. I note that this was last debated on 20 August. It is now 3 December, and we are still seeking action from this government on the aged-care crisis in this country. We've had the government agree to a royal commission into aged care, but it seems that nothing has been done since they conceded it needed to occur. In this place we're still waiting for news of the details of that royal commission.

We had been waiting, until quite recently, for the release of the data around the number of Australians now waiting for aged-care packages. In the order of 126,000 Australians are waiting for home care packages. This crisis is deepening as this government twiddles its thumbs. It is reprehensible that there are currently over 69,000 older Australians living without any home care package at all and tens of thousands of others who are not receiving the home care package they have been assessed as eligible for. One can only think that this is a crisis, and it's a crisis that is going to lead to another crisis. If people are not in receipt of a home care package or are in receipt of a home care package that gives them less care than they actually require to live independently, we're going to find more and more older Australians entering aged care rather than staying in their own home. We know that that's wrong from a health perspective, wrong from a social perspective and absolutely wrong from an economic perspective.

This government has a shameful track record of failure in this space. On home care packages, the 2018 budget is a complete and utter hoax. Prior to the budget being handed down, the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, the member for Hasluck, was on the record blaming the current home care package crisis on budget pressures: 'Sorry; we can't afford to look after the older Australians who need home care packages.' He said:

I do feel for families who struggle with the fact they do not get the level three or four package. But the reality is we have a budgetary process, and that fiscal constraint has to be considered.

In question time today, the member for Hasluck went to the dispatch box, on the back of a Dorothy Dixer, to talk not about home care packages, not about the crisis in aged care in this country, not about mistreatment of individuals in the aged-care system and not about how this government might work to improve aged care in both of these areas. No, he went to the dispatch box, from a Dorothy Dixer, to talk about superannuants. The member for Hasluck needs to get back to thinking about the people he is absolutely, critically responsible for. He needs to pay attention to the details around the royal commission and he needs to address the crisis that is happening now. The budget did nothing to fix this aged-care crisis. It shifted money from aged care to home care packages. It was tricky accounting with a promise of 14,000 new home care packages. We're supposed to celebrate 3,500 places per year and think they're adequate, when we've got 126,000 Australians waiting for appropriate support to stay in their homes. I can't stress that enough.

My mum is 91 years of age and living independently in her home. The dignity that confers on her is priceless, and there's no budgetary constraint that would see her family wanting her to go into an aged-care facility before it was necessary. Being able to live at home independently with some support through her package has been an absolute boon not just for her but for our family. It means that she remains alert and engaged. It means she's in her own home feeling absolutely independent and in control of her life. And, as one of her eight kids, let me tell you: you don't want to see her if she's not in control! The member for Hasluck needs to get to work and do his day job.

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