Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that Meals on Wheels has a long and proud history of providing ready-made nutritious meals, as well as a friendly smile and a chat, through its dedicated network of volunteers since 1952;

(2) acknowledges that Meals on Wheels prides itself on providing 'More than just a meal'; and

(3) affirms that the ability of Meals on Wheels to provide meals along with trusted local community outreach is unparalleled, and is worthy of the recognition and continuing support of government.

Meals on Wheels is an iconic Australian organisation that has been supporting local communities for more than 60 years. The 15,000 volunteers in Queensland alone who make Meals on Wheels possible deliver nearly two million meals a year to more than 11,500 people with a wide variety of support needs.

Every single day in typical suburban streets right across Australia, thousands of Meals and Wheels volunteers provide not only meals but also support, care and friendship to some of our elderly, sick, frail and disabled neighbours. I am fortunate to have some of the best community-spirited volunteers working for Meals and Wheels in my electorate, including in the Western Suburbs, Kenmore, Ashgrove and Mitchelton organisations. When our bodies fail and it is difficult to go to the shops for groceries, that is when Meals on Wheels can step in. Independence is something we all value—and key to supporting people to stay in their homes when they become elderly and frail are services such as those provided by Meals on Wheels and their volunteers. The volunteers are absolutely diligent in supporting their clients, as they call them, and in turning up every day. Too often volunteers are seen as those glamorous people who work at events like the Olympic Games or the Commonwealth Games or major conferences, but it is the Meals on Wheels volunteers who turn up every day, every week and every month of every year—and they don't get the recognition and support that they so deserve. When a Meals on Wheels volunteer attends a client's home, they are not just delivering a meal; they are providing an invaluable service to someone in need, the community and the Australian taxpayer.

However, I do believe that the Australian government could do more to help these wonderful people who provide meals on wheels by doing less. Earlier this year, for example, I met with representatives of local Meals on Wheels groups who were concerned about changes made to the way prospective Meals on Wheels clients subscribe to their services. Members will recall that Meals on Wheels providers were originally responsible for assessing the eligibility of prospective clients, as well as preparing and delivering meals. This was a sensible and cost-effective arrangement for providers, the Australian government and the people who need this valuable community service. But from 1 July 2015, responsibility for eligibility assessment was given to another layer of bureaucracy and was absorbed into My Aged Care Regional Assessment Service, which has now been contracted out to 13 organisations and 75 subcontractor organisations for a fee. Prospective clients now have to contact the My Aged Care Regional Assessment Service via a call centre or web portal to have their eligibility determined, and this can take several months. Indeed, I heard recently of a local resident and it took three months.

How often is it that we have elderly parents and one has to go into hospital for a couple of weeks? And what you do is ring up your local Meals on Wheels and say: 'Mum's in hospital for a couple of weeks. Do you mind providing meals for dad?' They say: 'Sure, not a problem. We'll pop around and organise what sort of food he likes and get that happening.' They complete the paperwork and you can then concentrate on your other parent who may be unwell. But no longer is that going to be the case; prospective clients now have to contact the My Aged Care Regional Assessment Service and—at a time when we took to the last election our commitment to repeal unnecessary red tape—this now is actually what we're doing to Meals on Wheels. There is no need for another layer of bureaucracy between a Meals on Wheels volunteer and the elderly and the sick, frail and disabled who benefit from their services. More concerning is advice that one of the Meals on Wheels volunteers gave me: they had been contacted by a large supermarket chain who indicated that they understood that the government was going to tender for the service. Would their volunteers volunteer for them in the future if they won the contract?

Meals on Wheels is a wonderful service. It supports the elderly in their homes and it provides a social interaction and care for those people as well because, instead of just leaving the delivery at the door and hoping that someone remembers to pull it in at some stage, Meals on Wheels volunteers ensure that their client is not only accessing those meals but also eating them, and they check on the conditions at the home at the same time. I commend the Meals on Wheels volunteers and this motion to the House.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I congratulate the member for Ryan for bringing forward in the parliament this important motion on Meals on Wheels. She has identified the fact that there are some problems with the My Aged Care website, and there have also been some problems with transitioning from the provision of Meals on Wheels through HACC and under the new arrangements, which do involve the My Aged Care website. Meals on Wheels is a very valuable organisation. It was established in Britain during the Second World War and it has been operating in Australia since 1952. It delivers 14.8 million meals a year to Australians. In excess of 78,700 volunteers provide their services because they believe in Meals on Wheels—they believe that frail aged and disabled people should have access to good quality meals. Meals on Wheels has played this invaluable role in communities throughout Australia. Not only do they provide nutritious meals; they also provide support and care to the people they deliver the meals too. It is unconscionable that people should have to wait for periods of time before they are deemed to be eligible for Meals on Wheels. The point the member for Ryan made about that was very poignant.

In Shortland electorate we have Charlestown Meals on Wheels, Belmont Meals on Wheels and Swansea Meals on Wheels. On the Central Coast we have meals on wheels delivered by volunteers but they are all cooked at a central point. Charlestown, Belmont and Swansea all cook their own meals. You have volunteers who come in early, they prepare the meals and once the meals are prepared another set of volunteers come in and they deliver the meals. The quality of the meals that people are receiving is of the highest standard. They are the kinds of meals that they have been used to all their lives. They are not something that has been frozen and cooked in some central point—they are quality meals. I have been out with Swansea Meals on Wheels and Charlestown Meals on Wheels, and quite a while ago with Belmont Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to people in their home. Quite often the person delivering the meal is the only person that they have contact with—the volunteers become part of their family. The interaction between those delivering meals on wheels and the person who receives the meal is a very important aspect of Meals on Wheels. I cannot emphasise that enough. On 28 August I went out with Swansea Meals on Wheels. There are a lot of elderly people in the Shortland electorate. We delivered meals in Swansea to The Village, where a number of elderly people live in units. They have valued that contact, and they continue to value it to this day. I know that those volunteers in the Shortland electorate taking the meals to those frail aged and disabled people are out there doing it now and I say thank you to them.

I have been worried in recent times that there has been a push for supermarkets, Woolworths, to become involved in delivering Meals on Wheels. But it is not the same as getting your groceries delivered. You need that personal contact, you need those special volunteers who can go along and interact with those receiving the meals in the way that I just identified. Meals on Wheels needs to be adequately funded and it needs to be well administered. I would like to thank each and every person who goes out there volunteering for Meals on Wheels. It is a way of life for them. We say thank you, I say thank you, and those receiving the meals say thank you also.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also support this motion recognising the great work of Meals on Wheels. I do not always agree with the member for Shortland but on this occasion I strongly endorse her words. I am the co-chair of Parliamentary Friends of Meals on Wheels and for many years I shared that responsibility with the former member for Hindmarsh, Steve Georganas. Currently the member for Griffith, Ms Terri Butler, and I co-chair that group. It is important that an organisation such as Meals on Wheels have entree into the Australian parliament so that the work they do can be recognised and the issues they face can be addressed.

It is important to note that Meals on Wheels has been going for 60 years, and in the course of a year nearly 15,000,000 meals are delivered by more than 78,700 volunteers to about 53,000 recipients. That is across cities, regional areas and small country towns. It is more than just a meal that recipients are getting from Meals on Wheels. True, Meals on Wheels is about nutrition, but that is only part of the story. As the member for Shortland said, quite often the only visit that some elderly people get throughout the day is the visit from the volunteer who delivers the meals on wheels. Numerous lives would have been saved on an annual basis when people have been found in an unwell condition and it is the Meals on Wheels volunteer who has recommended that they go to the doctor or who has called for help. So that social cohesion is very important.

Across the electorate of Parkes we have dozens of individual organisations that deliver meals on wheels. The one at Dubbo is quite a large organisation that delivers meals not only through Dubbo but also supplies meals to other outlying areas and to much smaller organisations in places like Boggabri, Warialda and Bingara and places like that. Last year I was at the celebrations for the Meals on Wheels anniversary in Boggabri, and many of those volunteers have been volunteering for most of the 60 years that Meals on Wheels has been around. Indeed, one of the ironies of Meals on Wheels is that more often than not the person delivering the meal might be older than the person who is actually receiving it because once people become a volunteer for Meals on Wheels they like to keep that job going.

The member for Shortland touched on something that is of concern, and I think it is a challenge for those of us who are in government, regardless of what side of the chamber you sit on: it is very easy for governments to look to a large organisation to handle the administration of an essential service like this; it is much easier to have a more narrow point of contact with a larger organisation. But we must never forget that the success of Meals on Wheels is due to the volunteers. The reason that Meals on Wheels works is that we have volunteers and we must not do anything that disenfranchises those volunteers. Outsourcing Meals on Wheels to supermarkets or the like would have a negative effect. I know that some other organisations have come into my electorate and have tried to contact some of the Meals on Wheels volunteers with the existing organisations, and that causes friction in itself.

It is a real challenge to foster and care for our volunteer organisations. Many of these are small groups in small country towns, but it is important that they maintain their autonomy, that they are encouraged and supported, that they are reinvigorated with new volunteers and that Meals on Wheels continues for another 60 years and beyond as a very valuable organisation.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to support this motion moved by the member for Ryan and pay tribute to the Meals on Wheels establishment and the wonderful work that it has done in Australia since 1952. In particular, I would like to thank, congratulate and pay tribute to the wonderful volunteers of Meals on Wheels across Australia who, every day, ensure that the elderly, people with disabilities and those who are lonely are provided with support and, importantly, a nutritious meal to ensure that their health and wellbeing is being catered for.

I wish, in particular, to pay tribute to those that work in our community in the electorate of Kingsford Smith in the Randwick and Botany Meals on Wheels organisations. For well over 50 years they have been supporting vulnerable people within our community and delivering those meals on a daily basis. At the moment, in both Randwick and Botany combined, Meals on Wheels delivers close to 2,000 meals a week to people within our community. They are not just meals; they are healthy, fresh, nutritious meals that can easily be heated up and delivered to people who are living in difficult circumstances and who may be frail, elderly, disabled and in need of care and attention to ensure that they can live fulfilling lives.

As other speakers have pointed out in this debate, the great value of Meals on Wheels is not simply in the food that is delivered. Meals on Wheels is much more than simply delivering a meal to a person on a daily or weekly basis. The wonderful volunteers of Meals on Wheels spend time with those whom they visit. They spend time chatting with them, they help them out around the home and, importantly, they sit with them and have a cup of tea or a chat and talk about their life and talk about what is happening in their life at that point in time. Particularly for elderly people or those who may be lonely and do not live with anyone, that is vitally important to a person's mental health and wellbeing. In the lead up to Christmas, when traditionally Australians spend a lot of time with family, I think we also need to remember those in our communities who live alone. Over the Christmas period Meals on Wheels provides a wonderful service connecting with and supporting those who may be lonely and live on their in our community.

Last week I conducted some volunteer awards in Kingsford Smith where we awarded community service certificates to those who volunteer in our community. For the last two years that I have done these awards, Meals on Wheels volunteers have been well represented and are well respected and loved within our community. It is a great pleasure to be able award a certificate of community service to someone from Meals on Wheels. Many of those volunteers that have worked in our community for Meals on Wheels in Randwick and Botany have been long-term volunteers, with over decades of support for this wonderful organisation. Many of them report to me that it is not simply about volunteering and providing support to those living vulnerable lives in our communities. Volunteering is also good fun, and that is something that I am acutely aware of. I came to politics through my work in community organisations. I was involved in Surf Life Saving from the age of 13. Most of my social network and friends that I have developed over those many years have come through being involved in volunteering. So volunteering is not simply about the social benefit; it is also about feeling part of a community, feeling connected to the community, and developing great friendships and love for the community and for people within that community over many years. Meals on Wheels and their volunteers provide that opportunity to many in our community.

Today I once again congratulate and thank and pay tribute to those volunteers, who, week in, week out, over many decades, have supported the vulnerable, the lonely, the disabled and the elderly in our community. You provide a wonderful service, and your contribution deserves credit and accolades from this parliament.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.