Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We're all aware of the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on aged-care facilities. For residents unable to see their loved ones, family members suffering heightened anxiety worrying about the health of elderly relatives, and for employees of an aged care facility it has been a stressful time working to ensure the safety of elderly residents whilst also worrying about their own health. In northern Tasmania, the restrictions put in place both federally and by the state government did an effective job of keeping residents, workers and their families safe, with no coronavirus cases reported in aged care to date in my electorate of Bass. I know it was so difficult for family members not to visit their loved ones and it has been an isolating time for residents, and I would like to say thank you for doing the right thing. Your efforts did make a difference. Thank you to all the workers in aged care for the wonderful care you have delivered under incredibly stressful circumstances. I'd also like to take this opportunity to commend my Tasmanian colleague the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Richard Colbeck, for his consistent and strong leadership throughout the COVID-19 crisis. We've heard a lot of words from Labor today, but they have been very quiet about their own record on aged care. We know that Labor can't be trusted when it comes to aged care, and senior Australians know it too. Despite their high-taxing agenda at the last election, Labor provided zero additional funding in their costings for home-care places and zero funding additional funding for aged-care quality workforce or mainstream residential aged care. In contrast, the Morrison government is committed to supporting a strong and dedicated aged-care workforce that delivers high-quality aged care to senior Australians. We've put together a number of workforce measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and these measures have ensured that aged-care participants continue to get quality care during these difficult times. These measures include emergency support where a residential aged-care facility does not have the capacity or capability to continue service delivery due to COVID; remote locums to support aged-care providers in remote Australia if they can't source staff; and access to surge workforce capability through the online platform Mable, to help providers if they are unable to fill critical skills because of infection or if staff have to self-isolate.

The COVID-19 Aged Care Support Program is reimbursing approved aged-care providers for eligible expenditure occurred during managing the direct impacts of COVID-19, and aged-care providers have been able to temporarily offer more hours to international students to ensure the care of senior and vulnerable Australians as part of the campaign to combat the impact of coronavirus.

It's important to note the $234.9 million dollar retention bonus for direct care workers working in aged care. The bonus is available to eligible workers in residential care and home care during COVID-19 to help retain them in the workforce at this critical time. The payment is specifically to encourage direct care workers providing clinical care and personal care to continue to work on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full-time direct care workers in residential care facilities, including personal care workers, registered nurses, enrolled nurses and allied health workers, will receive a retention bonus of up to $800 per quarter, paid for two quarters if they work over the applicable time periods.

Additionally, eligible home-care workers, including workers providing clinical care, personal care, in-home support activities such as meal preparation, social support, and services such as shopping, community access and transport, will receive up to $600 per quarter paid for two quarters if they work over the applicable time periods. Employers can apply for a grant to receive the payment on behalf of their workers. The grant round opens today and will provide a huge benefit to the many northern Tasmanians employed in the aged-care field.

We've provided more than $850 million in measures to support senior Australians in aged care and in the sector more broadly—real action, real investment, that makes a tangible difference to the lives of senior Australians. But all Labor have to say on aged care is that they will reveal their policies closer to the election. Labor are waiting for someone else to do their work and their deceit shows that they don't understand the aged-care sector and are more interested in cheap politics than in genuine solutions to an important issue for senior Australians.

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