Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all members who have contributed to the debate on the Aged Care Amendment (Movement of Provisionally Allocated Places) Bill 2019. The Australian population is ageing, and senior Australians and their families deserve to have access to high-quality aged care and services when they need them. Integral to this is supporting approved providers to make residential aged-care places ready for use as quickly as possible.

Constructing aged-care homes is a difficult, time-consuming and expensive exercise. It is not uncommon for providers to finish aged-care homes with fewer rooms than originally intended due to either planning or construction issues. Where this is the case, the Aged Care Act 1997 needs to be flexible enough to allow these leftover places to be moved to another suitable location. Similarly, a provider may find a more suitable or affordable location for an aged-care home a few minutes drive from the planning region to which the places were originally allocated. Again, the act needs to be flexible enough to allow this.

The amendments within this bill seek to add flexibility to the act by allowing provisionally allocated residential aged-care places to be moved from one region to another where a provider can demonstrate that the movement is in the interests of aged-care consumers, there is a clear need for places in the new region and it is not detrimental to the region to which the provisionally allocated places are currently allocated. This change is in the best interests of all older Australians and the broader community. It will remove a potential barrier to the community in accessing residential aged care, thereby aligning with the government's commitment to ensuring delivery of high-quality aged care and services when and where they're needed. I commend the bill to the House.

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