Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I agree with much of what the member for Makin had to say, particularly his outlining of some of the disgraceful treatment of those elderly Australians who have been put into residential aged care because they need that level of care and their families are not in a position to look after them anymore. I think it's disgraceful that those people have been treated in the manner. We should as a society recognise that one of the important measures of our civilisation is how we take care of our elderly. When we hear stories as the member for Makin has outlined and as we've seen told at the aged-care royal commission, we should be very disappointed and reflective on what we need to do as a society to improve the level and quality of care that our senior Australians get when they need it.

Someone else in an earlier contribution in this debate made the reflection that it's these senior Australians who built the country that we have today and that we have the opportunity and the blessings that we have in life because of their hard work, effort and contribution to our society and that, in reflection of that, we should ensure that the level of care that they receive is first class and the best it can be.

In line with the recommendations from the commission's report handed down in 2019, the government has outlined that it would establish a single unified system of care for our elderly in the home to deliver a seamless system of care tailoring services to the needs of the individual. These bills are a step in that direction. Obviously, the final changes will be guided by the final recommendations of the royal commission and will have the ultimate goal of improving care and ending the wait for home-care packages.

As an example of the level of investment that the Morrison government is making into aged care, funding has grown from $13.3 billion in 2012-13, under the previous Labor government, to nearly $24 billion in 2021-22. This investment includes $4.6 billion for additional home-care packages since the 2018-19 budget, and the government estimates that home-care packages will continue to grow, from 60,300, where they were in 2012-13, to nearly 185,600 in 2020-21.

These huge numbers also allow me to drill down into the electorate of Forde, where we have over 10,000 senior citizens and a number of organisations that support seniors, including Jimbelunga Nursing Centre at Eagleby, and the Beenleigh and Districts Senior Citizens Centre Inc, the largest senior citizens centre in south-east Queensland. But I also want to take this opportunity to reflect on a number of other aged-care service providers in the electorate. I know there is rightly condemnation for those residential aged-care service providers that don't look after their residents, but I'm pleased to say that I have some very good residential aged-care service providers in my electorate of Forde who do an outstanding job. There is, as I've already mentioned, Jimbelunga aged-care facility at Eagleby, which looks predominantly after the Indigenous community in a culturally sensitive and appropriate way. But what's important at Jimbelunga is that they also take other residents who don't have an Indigenous background or cultural background, and those residents get to enjoy the same care that the Indigenous residents do. But the important part, particularly for the Indigenous residents there, the cultural aspect of their care.

I know the member for Oxley in his earlier contribution mentioned the importance of culturally appropriate settings for the Vietnamese community in his electorate. Jeta Gardens in my electorate also does that for the Malaysian and Chinese community in a culturally sensitive and appropriate way as well. Other aged-care facilities in my electorate who do an outstanding job include: palm lake aged care at Eagleby and at Bethania; Oxford Crest at Eagleby; Infinite Care at Cornubia; St Paul de Chartes, who I visited recently over at Boronia Heights. They're just some of the great aged-care facilities across the electorate of Forde who do an outstanding job each and every day. I forgot to mention Seasons Waterford West. Seasons' model is very interesting in that they have a mix of over 50s retirement village units. It is designed such that if one of the partners requires aged care and high care they can transition from their normal unit into a high-care unit within the same facility, but their husband or wife is still close by, so they can still catch up for lunch and dinner, go and spend time in each other's rooms and socialise together, which I think is a tremendous model and works very, very well.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who work in these services around the electorate of Forde and all of those who work to support our senior citizens. It's a vitally important job. I know from the many that I speak to that they thoroughly enjoy the job, and they are very appreciative of the opportunity they have to look after our senior Australians. I want to give my gratitude to all of those staff, the nurses that work in the various facilities around the electorate, for the work they do each and every day.

As I'm sure others in this chamber do, I hold a seniors expo every year. Unfortunately this year, due to COVID-19, that wasn't to be the case. I get to speak with hundreds of seniors who attend. They tell me they would much rather have home care than go into residential aged care. They feel that that's because they will have more autonomy and freedom at home and feel more in control of their own affairs. I have seen that firsthand over the last 12 or 18 months with a family situation. As my father-in-law's dementia got worse he made it very clear that he didn't want to go into residential aged care. My wife, Judi, and her sisters took on the task of looking after him at his home, in particular Judi's sister and her husband who moved in to give him full-time care. They were also able to get assistance with a home-care package. I have seen the time and effort that is required by families to look after a loved one who is in that situation where they require a high level of care. It is an important message, because until you actually live that experience and go through it I don't think you can say you can fully understand the time commitment and effort required.

This bill is about changing the way that payments are made to the home service package providers. The current system of home care allows for packages between $8,900 and up to $51,900, depending on your level of package that you've been assessed for. This funding has historically been provided in advance to providers. This means that the money often sits untouched in providers' bank accounts. It has created a rising level of unspent home-care funds. This particular way of funding differs from how the Australian government ordinarily pays for programs and services. The discrepancy in payment arrangements has been highlighted by the Aged Care Financing Authority and several aged-care stakeholders.

In the 2019-20 budget the Australian government announced improvements to the payment arrangements for home-care packages to pay for services as they are delivered. This bill will allow home-care payments to providers in arrears from February 2021—the initial changes requiring minimal systems or operational changes. The home-care providers will receive the January 2021 advanced payment in mid-December, as per normal for that time of year, and this will be the final advanced payment. The providers will not receive a February advanced payment in early February, but instead will receive the full payment for February when they lodge their February claim in March. The providers will continue to lodge their claims as per normal with the same information that is currently required.

I think it's important to reflect on one of the areas that I get feedback on. I think it is still an area that needs to be dealt with in due course. I get comments from constituents who have home-care packages on the level of administration fees that some of these home-care service providers charge in comparison to the services they actually provide. I have made a representation to the minister on behalf of a number of constituents for that to be an area we look at to ensure that the constituents who are receiving a home-care package actually get proper value for money and that a large sum of those packages isn't being eaten up in administration fees charged by the home-care service providers.

We all agree, I think, that having unspent funds sitting in the aged-care providers' accounts is not the optimal situation. We need to ensure that we get bang for our buck when it comes to aged-care funding. One concern that has been raised on these changes is the question: can home-care package service providers manage the change? The government asked the Aged Care Financing Authority to assess providers and determine if they can accommodate the change to cashflow arrangements. The determination is they can and, for those who need transitional support, there is financial support to assist with that transition.

In conclusion, the Morrison government has a record of funding the aged-care sector, including a huge funding boost for home-care packages. We know that ageing in the home is, in most cases, a better option for seniors than residential aged care and potentially saves more in the long term from seniors going into hospital. We have heard the voices of our senior citizens and we will continue to provide record funding for the aged-care sector and, in particular, for home-care packages. I am proud of our government's record in this area over the past seven years. When I speak with seniors at the Seniors Expo they tell me that they are generally happy with the services the government provides and covers financially.

Obviously with the establishment of the royal commission we are seeking to rectify the issues that have been raised through various means and avenues, as I outlined at the start of my contribution and has been outlined by many in this debate today, about practices which are not acceptable. We eagerly await the final report of the royal commission. In terms of the payment model for aged-care funding and in particular how we fund providers of home-care packages, I want to see and we as a government want to see and ensure that the unutilised funds are used to support those for whom the funding is provided. We are determined to ensure that providers are supported through the transition process, but we are more determined to ensure that our senior citizens, who have contributed so much to this country throughout their lifetimes, have the best quality of care, which they deserve. I commend this bill to the House.

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