Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak in support of the Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Age of Dependants) Bill. I want to start by acknowledging the incredible work which all those involved in health care provide to our country. It's been more acutely visible than ever over the course of the last 12 months. We, in Australia, have the benefit of a great system. It's not perfect, but it is so much better than in so many other countries. We have highly competent and well-qualified professionals. We have a well-regulated system which ensures quality of patient care is rightly prioritised. While the funding of health care can, at times, become the subject matter or focus of political debate, the truth is that governments of all varieties and at all levels are fully committed to ensuring a quality of care and service throughout our health system, and it is pleasing that this bill is being supported across the entire chamber.

Our public health system is strong. It is stretched, but it is strong. Our private healthcare system is much the same; it is strong, but it is stretched. And we need both. Encouraging private health care for those who can afford it eases the burden on the public healthcare system and improves its capacity to deliver. It also gives scope for innovative new ideas and concepts to be developed and delivered through the public health system.

One example of this is the medihotel, which has been established at Royal Perth Hospital. Developed as a pilot program, this facility, jointly funded by state and federal governments, provides short-term accommodation for people who have finished their hospital stay and are waiting for transport home to regional WA or need to visit the hospital for an appointment prior to their hospital stay. The overall goal of the medihotel is to ensure that there's appropriate care for people while freeing up the necessary beds for acute cases. We need to explore ideas such as these, and we need to continue to innovate to ensure that the quality of health care we enjoy in this country continues.

This bill is designed to encourage private health care insofar as it addresses the reality that many young people are dropping healthcare cover and have been doing so at a steady rate for the past five years. As part of this reform program, the maximum age of dependants for private health insurance policies will be increased from 24 to 31 years, and there will be the opportunity for insurers to offer policies with no age limit for dependants with a disability. As other members have noted, it is pleasing that a number of insurers have already indicated that they are ready and willing to start offering this expanded coverage.

What this means is that young people—students, apprentices—can stay on their parents' policy for longer. It will be easier for adults to transition from being on their parents' cover to buying their own lifetime health cover, which will commence at the age of 31. People with a disability will be provided with the opportunity to access more affordable private health insurance without age limits, as they can be covered under a family policy at a lower cost rather than purchase a standalone policy. And the definition of a person with a disability for the purpose of private health insurance will be a participant in the NDIS, but insurers will also have the flexibility to go beyond this definition when offering cover.

Just by way of observation here, it's really relevant to note that the age at which young people leave home and become independent has, over the last two decades, been rising. According to the Housing, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey of 2017, 56 per cent of men aged 18 to 29 lived with one or both parents and 54 per cent of women of the same age group lived with one or more parents. These stats are similar to those produced by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

It's difficult to pin down exactly the median age at which people leave the family home, and I have to admit that when my youngest son was only eight someone told me that the average age for a man to leave home was 28, and knowing that my son will never watch this and will never read this speech, I can honestly say that I had a very mixed reaction to the thought that he would still be under the same roof as me for another two decades. He's now 15 and six foot five, and, if I still have another 12 years of him in the house, I'll have to either raise the ceilings or triple the size of the kitchen! There are numerous reasons as to why young people stay home longer—housing costs, staying longer in education and training, casual work and choosing to live a little before settling down. As with most things in this world, it's probably due to a mix of reasons and all very dependent on their individual circumstances. The reality is they do remain dependent and at home for longer. The reality is also that there has been a sustained period of decreasing uptake of private health care by young people, and it is something we need to address for the sake of our entire health system.

This reform benefits the younger adults who will be covered as dependants, but it will also contribute to making private health insurance more sustainable in the longer term by helping the transition of more young people to their own adult cover when they turn 31. On that basis, I'm very happy to support this bill.

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