Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

The government's response on Monday to the royal commission that it called into aged care in Australia was an absolute failure. When the government responded to the royal commission, it announced 10,000 home care packages. What we know, of course, is that today there are 120,000 older Australians waiting for home care. That figure shows that older Australians and their families and loved ones are not going to get their home care any sooner because of the government's announcement. Indeed, when you look at the detail of the government's announcement what you actually see is that 5,500 packages will become available from December in the first year. That is it: 5,500 in response to what the government's own royal commissioners have said is neglect—neglect! That's their own royal commissioners talking about the government's responsibility to older Australians.

It's not just Labor saying this. We heard from the sector on Monday afternoon and evening about this royal commission response. I'm going to quote National Seniors Australia, who said the government's announcement of an extra 10,000 home care packages is 'less than the number of people who died last year waiting for a package' and 'barely addresses 10 per cent of the current waiting list'. Aged & Community Services Australia said the aged-care announcement will 'not even touch the sides of demand'. Leading Age Services Australia said it was a 'missed opportunity' and that those 110,000 older Australians remaining on the list will be 'left disappointed in the lead-up to Christmas'. They will indeed be left disappointed, because we know that, even if 5,000 packages become available in December, there are still 115,000 older Australians waiting for their home care.

'Neglect', the royal commissioners called it—neglect! That is the royal commission that the government called. After six years, four ministers and billions of dollars ripped out of the aged-care system, the government's own royal commissioners said it was neglect, and the best the government can do is fund 5,500 packages in the first year. That is outrageous. It's simply not good enough. It is continuing to fail older Australians and their families and loved ones.

I get calls from families all around the country, sadly, who have loved ones in the system, and my question to the government—to the minister and the Prime Minister—is: what do you say to the people you take calls from? What do you say to the 95-year-old woman who has a terminal illness and who has been told she'll need to wait 22 months to get a home care package?

What do you say to that? Why is that okay? How do you stand in here and say, 'What a great job we're doing. We've got this announcement and we're dealing with it.' When you get calls like that, what do you say to people? How in Australia today is that okay? Why is the government not doing something about the national priority queue for home care?

I was alerted yesterday to a situation where somebody had a loved one who had been waiting for home care but they had passed away, sadly, like 16,000 other older Australians who passed away without their home care package in the year 2017-18. We don't know how many people died last financial year waiting for their home care package. I was alerted to the fact they got a letter from My Aged Care saying, 'Good news: your home care package has turned up,' 2½ years after their loved one was deceased. How does the government not know somebody has passed away for 2½ years? It is just incredible that the government cannot manage the simple things. They clearly don't have a plan to deal with aged care but they should; they've had more than a dozen reports sitting on their desks.

We heard the government's excuse for not dealing with home care was, 'We can't roll them out because, you know, we might get some dodgy providers and/or, you know, we don't have the workforce.' Well the government's had sitting on its desk for over a year a workforce task force report that it actually paid for. Its own architect and author has criticised the government for not implementing the recommendations fast enough. There are 14 actions in that report. Professor Pollaers told the royal commission he was disappointed in the government. He should be. We're all pretty disappointed in the government and its response to aged care.

The findings in one of those reports by Kate Carnell into what happened at Earle Haven on the Gold Coast is similar to the findings made in the review of the national aged-care quality regulatory processes of which Ms Kate Carnell was a co-author. What she is referring to here is that she did a report for the government into what happened at Oakden in South Australia and made to a certain extent the same findings as those made in relation to Earle Haven on the Gold Coast. The Oakden report has been sitting on the minister's desk for two years. Why does it take this government's royal commission for them to do something but, importantly, still not enough? What is it going to take for this government to seriously consider acting and reforming aged care properly in Australia today? When we have 120,000 older Australians waiting on the home care list and the government is told this is neglect, when the commissioners describe what is happening in Australia when it comes to young people in residential care as a national disgrace, when we hear reports that around 70 per cent of the residents at Earle Haven were under chemical restraint, the government needs to do better. It needs to do better.

I was pleased we finally got an updated regulation tabled in the Senate this week. I have been talking to the minister for some time about how his current regulation that came in on 1 July has not been sufficient. He has tabled an upgraded regulation but, I guess, the proof will be in the pudding. How much will the tightening of the regulations actually reduce chemical restraint? People are very concerned when they go into residential aged care and see their loved ones sitting in a corner drugged up. That's what happens. Why does it happen? Sometimes there are behavioural issues and it is required. But often, we know, it is due to a lack of staff in some facilities. This is not good enough.

We have said on our side of politics for a long time that there are not enough staff in aged care and they are not paid enough. The government has had a workforce task force report sitting on its desk for more than a year. We need to do better, we need to resource aged care better, and the government needs to do something about it. The government comes in here and talks about priorities, talks about all these things that it's allegedly doing. What is it actually doing in aged care? It has a royal commission interim report and its best response to 120,000 people waiting is to deliver 5,500 packages from 1 December? It's not good enough. It is absolutely not good enough to those older Australians, their families and their loved ones that we're getting such a lacklustre response from the government. It's saying, 'Don't worry, we'll respond when the royal commission final report comes down in November next year.' Well, if its response is going to be anything like the response to the interim report, it is hardly going to be worth waiting for, because this area needs serious reform.

The government has been asleep at the wheel. We have had six years, four ministers and billions of dollars ripped out. Let's not forget it was the current Prime Minister, in his first budget, who pulled $1.2 billion out of aged care. That came on top of the half a billion dollars he pulled out in the MYEFO beforehand and on top of the $100 million for the dementia supplement that Tony Abbott pulled out in 2014. They have ripped billions of dollars out of aged care. What we have today is an aged-care system based on their neglect. That is what the royal commissioners are saying—neglect. What do you say to the calls from family members who have loved ones in their 90s who cannot get the care they need? What do you say to that? How much sooner because of your announcements are these people going to get their home care packages? The truth is: the government knows it can't put a time frame on it, because these people are not going to be getting their home care any sooner because of what the government has done.

I can't wait for the home care package waitlist to come out in December. I'm very interested in the figure of how many people died last financial year. The government seems to be hiding figures and sitting on the facts and the data. It's not good enough from this government. People expect transparency and information, and they need to be told the truth about how long they are going to wait for aged-care services in Australia today. It cannot go on—that the government, when it has a royal commission, when it talks about how much it gives a damn, does next to nothing. That is what it is doing: next to nothing. What it has done in its response is but a drop in the ocean compared to the reforms that are required. Not all of this takes money. This needs a government that gives a damn to actually do something.

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