Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You may be a little taken aback by a paediatrician talking about aged care, but it is something that has been very close to my heart for a long period of time—in fact, long before politics. My mother-in-law was the matron of our local nursing home, the Campbelltown nursing home of Kilbride, for many, many years—over 20 years, in fact. My children grew up being taken to the nursing home to be cared for by their grandmother until we could pick them up after our work et cetera, so I've had a long involvement with aged care. Of course, upon entering politics, I've had involvement with all my local aged-care providers, all of whom I'm pretty impressed with. I'm very grateful for the efforts of the staff in local nursing homes around our area, of which there are many.

One of the surest facts of life, of course, is that we all age. We live in an ageing country, and aged-care needs have increased over the last couple of decades. To develop proper aged-care policy takes time and takes really hard work. I was part of the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport when we started an investigation into aged care in 2016, when I was first elected. This ultimately led to the royal commission. What we found was disgraceful; it was dreadful. There'd been years and years of neglect under coalition governments. We saw dreadful care—in fact, no care in many areas.

That's why, as a party in opposition, we worked hard on developing aged-care policy. Our new Aged Care Act, which came into effect on 1 November, marked a really significant turning point for aged care in Australia. This, alongside our new $4.3 billion Support at Home program, will provide a high level of care for people in their homes and shows how we know what people need from in-home aged care and that we care about people in aged care.

Whether it's the aged-care residents themselves or their families or the staff and carers who provide these services, everyone requires our government to commit to improving outcomes for all those involved. I've met with hundreds of constituents who are either aged-care residents themselves or have family involved in this important sector. One thing has been certain: people want and need change.

For too long, older Australians were left waiting for the care they deserve. They were waiting for assessments. They were waiting to get people to provide support for them in their homes. And then later they were waiting for aged-care positions. The royal commission told us that the system was broken and neglected by those opposite, and Australians all agreed.

According to the royal commission, in exposing the failures of those opposite, the system they left behind was unacceptable and unsustainable. They had nine years to fix it and they didn't. That's why the Albanese Labor government has acted. Instead of applying patchwork policies here and there, like the coalition opted to do for so many years, we're instead reforming it from the ground up. This takes time. It means stronger accountability, legally enshrined rights for older Australians, mandatory care minutes and major investments in workforce and infrastructure.

In our 2024-25 budget, we allocated $111 million to strengthening the regulatory capacity of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. We are also well underway in allocating an additional 83,000 supported home places this financial year to help with wait times and get older Australians back to the people and places they love. I know that there is a problem with people waiting in our acute hospital beds for aged-care placements. There are some also waiting for NDIS placements, that is true, but we as a government are working on policies that will gradually, over time, reduce those numbers waiting for beds, reduce those numbers waiting for support and provide high quality care that older Australians need.

We're working closely with state governments around the country to address the unique issues they face in their health systems when it comes to aged care. Our government is working to reduce the risk that aged-care providers will only profit from federal funding, by attributing increased funding to stronger standards and protections. We are doing what it takes to make our aged care system sustainable for the long-term, for the future. I want our aged residents to get the best care possible, and I am very proud to be part of a government that is providing the best care we can for older Australians.

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