Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Government is asking the Governor-General to establish a Royal Commission into the Aged Care Sector;

(b) this Royal Commission will primarily look at the quality of care provided in residential and home aged care to senior Australians, but also include young Australians with disabilities living in residential aged care settings, as well as the challenges associated with the provision of aged care in remote, rural and regional Australia;

(c) evidence to date shows that the problems are not restricted to any one part of the aged care sector, whether it is for profit or not for profit, large or small facilities, or regional or major metropolitan; and

(d) the Royal Commission will look at the sector as a whole, without bias or prejudice, and make findings on the evidence;

(2) commends the Government for taking action to ensure that older Australians have access to care that supports their dignity and recognises the contribution that they have made to society; and

(3) calls on the Government to continue to provide record level funding to the aged care sector.

I am indeed delighted to put my name to this motion and commend the government for its decisive action in calling a royal commission into aged care, the key objective of which is to help build a national culture of respect for ageing and older Australians. I welcome the broad terms of reference announced just last week.

After learning of the abuses at Oakden and receiving recommendations of the review that followed, the government acted swiftly to improve regulation and to impose a new audit regime on the sector. The introduction of unannounced audits and accreditation visits has seen a substantial increase in the number of identified incidents over the past year, including a 177 per cent increase in reported serious risks and a 185 per cent increase in notices of noncompliance.

Yet, despite the significance of recent data that highlights serious issues, there is still strong evidence that Australia provides some of the best aged care in the world, and we should never lose sight of that fact. The Australian community has every right to expect only the highest standards when it comes to aged-care services that support the dignity of older Australians and the peace of mind of loved ones. Not only does the Australian government share these expectations but, as a government—and, I'm sure, as a parliament—we are determined that these expectations are met to ensure there are no exceptions.

The Prime Minister's announcement of a royal commission has a special significance for me as the member for Fairfax. This is because the Sunshine Coast region, where I share the local government area with the member for Fisher, has one of the highest concentrations of older Australians anywhere in the country. At the last census, 20.9 per cent of the Sunshine Coast population was over 65 years of age, compared to just 15.2 per cent for Queensland and 15.8 per cent for the entire country. It should therefore come as no surprise that I have a keen interest in the welfare of older Australians, with whom I meet regularly, as I do with their families and aged-care providers across my electorate.

I also meet regularly with the Fairfax Seniors Advisory Committee that I established soon after being elected, and we host a Fairfax Seniors Forum each year. The message from these groups is that while good progress on improving aged-care services has indeed been made, more remains to be done. Older Australians demand to be heard, and by hosting a series of community workshops later this month I intend to amplify the voices of my constituents to help inform the royal commission on the local situation. The message from the Sunshine Coast is loud and clear: they want firm action to identify and weed out substandard care wherever it is found. That is what this royal commission is all about, and this government should be commended for seeking to complement recent reforms with such a powerful response.

However, it's not enough simply to shine a bright light on the problems; real action must follow. Such action is not only a matter of legislative will but also of financial will, and that is the Liberal-National coalition's strong suit. As is also the case with nation-building infrastructure, when it comes to supporting older Australians the coalition actually puts money on the table. Today, under this minister, funding for aged care is at record levels and is expected to grow from $18.6 billion last financial year to $23.6 billion over the next five years.

This will improve the lives of older Australians and, thanks to the coalition's strong economic management, we can sustain the high-level services that older Australians expect and which they rightly deserve.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by acknowledging the families, friends and loved ones of those who have been affected by the aged-care media that we have seen in recent weeks. I will be very blunt. The LNP government's involvement in the care of older Australians is now clearly evident because the sector is in meltdown. This LNP government cannot cut billions of dollars from aged care and then wonder why the issues are so serious. Surely, older Australians deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, because in fact this is a human right.

This government created this mess and now finally has decided to carry out a royal commission to investigate how the sector got into such a disastrous state. Well, let me give the government a hint: under now Prime Minister Scott Morrison's watch as Treasurer, the aged-care budget was used as an ATM to try to prop up the budget. As Treasurer, he ripped $1.2 billion from the aged-care system. Aged-care industry bodies warned at the time of the 2016 budget that cuts would result in declining standards of care, and—no surprise to anyone—that is exactly what has happened. It was always inevitable that these massive cuts would sadly lead to standards of care for older Australians slipping under the weight of the cuts.

These cuts have also led to huge waiting lists for access to aged care—120,000 people across the nation are right now on waiting lists for access to in-home aged-care packages. In northern Queensland, there are more than 323 people waiting—people in my electorate, like Christine's mother. Sadly, Christine's mother passed away last year whilst she was waiting for approval of her aged-care plan. Christine's mother was on a plan in New South Wales, but when she moved to Townsville her mother had to apply again for an aged-care plan. What was really disturbing was the fact that Christine was notified by mail four months after her mother's passing that her package had been approved. This was both disgraceful and distressing.

Labor fully supports the royal commission, but the royal commission must take a holistic analysis of the sector. Last week I met with my aged-care reference group and they formulated the following list. The act needs a review as there is serious concern that it is not fit for purpose in terms of the expectations of contemporary practice. It should investigate the provision of in-home care services, including the purchase of goods and services that are out of scope—capital works and renovations to dwellings, such as new bathrooms, and internal and external house painting to name a few. It should investigate the opportunity to implement emerging and innovative models of care and best practice across the entire sector. It should review the audit process related to aged-care standards, as the focus appears to be on financial and compliance aspects and not on service delivery and feedback from older persons and their families. The audit must include evidence of the voices of older persons who actually live in residential facilities. It should focus on workforce development and training. There needs to be a strong focus on quality and relevance of competencies to deliver a person-first approach. There should be staff ratios that recognise an effective skill mix and cultural competencies that meet residential needs. There should be a focus on access to aged-care services and facilities for people with complex mental health issues, including those who have been imprisoned. It should investigate the establishment of a funding model that is focused on the development of a co-design model of care, as opposed to services that simply meet a proposed funding envelope. It should investigate the growing incidence of elder abuse in both community and residential settings, including the use of chemical restraints; investigate ready access to advocacy services for older persons; and investigate access to appropriately skilled and qualified gender-relevant translators and/or interpreters.

The Herbert electorate has an ageing population, and the issues associated with respectful care of our older persons from a human rights perspective are absolutely critical. We are an ageing population. In my electorate of Herbert, we have so many people who are in desperate need of aged-care services, particularly in-home care services. Our older persons are in desperate need of services and facilities in our community that help them live safely in their own homes for as long as is humanly possible. Older Australians cannot wait until after the royal commission; they need action right now. The government could start right now by reversing the billions of dollars that have been cut from the aged-care sector across the board, because this would make a significant difference to those people who are ageing in our communities as I speak.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly support this motion and I commend Minister Ken Wyatt, who is at the desk at this time, for his decision to call this royal commission. Many people, as the minister is aware, choose my electorate in the south-west of Western Australia to come to retire. It is a fabulous part of the world, and I expect that perhaps the minister, when he comes back to where he was born in Bunbury, could well be part of the retirement group that exists in my fantastic electorate in the south-west of Western Australia.

We all know that one of the great measures of a society is how well we treat our elderly citizens—the wonderful generations who have come before us, who certainly deserve our respect and our care. Elderly Australians—and it's not only elderly Australians; it's we, their families, as well—expect that the care that is provided in residential aged-care facilities is of the highest quality. Families like us also expect that level of service.

We have so many wonderful facilities around Australia. Certainly, in my part of the world in the south-west, I have aged-care facilities that are providing beautiful care to people. There are the sorts of places that you walk into and think, 'When it's my turn, if I need permanent residential care, this is the type of wonderful facility that I would like to be in.' And really that's what we want. That's what the government wants, and that's what this royal commission will help to achieve.

We know that, as a result of recent inspections and some very well-publicised incidents, Minister Wyatt and the Prime Minister announced the royal commission. There were too many incidents that certainly couldn't be overlooked. The evidence was there. We know that we have some of the finest facilities anywhere in the world. However, what we've seen through the unannounced audit process and the identified evidence is that there are, certainly, in some facilities, very serious risks. For example, a 177 per cent increase in services with serious risks was identified in just the past year alone. There was a 292 per cent increase in services with significant non-compliance. One service is being shut down by the Department of Health every month. There were 154 notices of non-compliance, which is a 185 per cent increase. Sanctions are up 136 per cent. These are the very facts that the government and the minister have been presented with, and it does make really tough reading. It means that some 2,000 residents—out of a group of just over 200,000—who are living in residential aged care and over 80,000 who are living with in-home care support, including those who receive that within retirement villages, were impacted by these incidents. Some 300 had to be placed in other services. For both the individuals and the families, that is a very tough issue to deal with.

I know, having had to make the decision myself with my family, that one of the hardest decisions any of us make is when we are entrusted with the complete care of a family member, because they need a level of care that we cannot provide in their home or in another home. It's the complete type of care that is needed when high-level residential care is required. Whether it's your parents, your partner, your husband or wife, a dad, an aunty, an uncle or even a young person—whomever it is—they are very, very hard decisions. These decisions need to be made with confidence in the care that they will receive. That's what we want to know. When people we love go into care, we want to know they have the right level of care, which is why the government has called the royal commission. I commend the minister for this action.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whilst Labor obviously has been very supportive of this royal commission, we wait to hear some of the terrible stories to come out of the royal commission. I think we all know the sorts of stories we are going to see and hear. I think that Australians are bracing for those stories. As the shadow minister, I've been in a position where I've had to listen to and counsel some family members about some of the terrible stories of people's experiences in residential and in-home care in Australia. What we as a parliament need to make sure and what the government needs to make sure is that we don't wait until the final report in April 2020 before acting. We need to make sure that the issues that we know are wrong today are fixed today. I have been very strong on that. I have obviously contacted the government, the minister and the Prime Minister, together with the Leader of the Opposition, about the terms of reference for this royal commission. I am pleased that they are very broad. I am still concerned that retirement village living is not included, given that a large number of people in retirement village living are also receiving home care services. I hope that the commissioners, under any other item, also look at this issue, because it is a significant issue around the country and a lot of older Australians, in my view, are signing contracts that they don't understand and they are not aware of what they are being asked to do in terms of the fees and payments.

As I said, I want to make sure that the government does act. The government has more than a dozen reports on its desk today. Some of those reports are about workforce. One, of course, is the Carnell-Paterson report into Oakden. To date, we've implemented one of the 10 recommendations. One has been partially implemented, with legislation in this place at the moment. There is a range of other recommendations that need to be implemented. We have the David Tune report into aged-care services in Australia and the government has responded to 18 of 38 recommendations. Another 20 recommendations are yet to be dealt with. So we do need to make sure that the government acts on these reports that are currently on its desk today.

The government have to accept some responsibility for where we are today. They have been in government for five years. For five years, they have been in charge of this system and, by calling a royal commission into this system, they're saying, 'We've mucked it up and things are bad.' After five years, that is what they are saying. Essentially, after three ministers and ripping billions of dollars out, they are saying, 'We now have a problem, so let's call a royal commission.' We're pleased the royal commission has finally been called. Of course, when Labor said the aged-care system was in crisis months ago, we were chastised and, indeed, the minister at the table said some things to the Leader of the Opposition about it being akin to elder abuse. I know that he has since said that, perhaps, he went a bit far in his comments, but we have been saying that there are some very serious issues in the aged-care system today. That does not take away from the hardworking staff and people in the aged-care sector. They work extraordinarily hard day in and day out to provide the best possible care to older Australians. Many older Australians do receive very-high-quality care, but what this royal commission will show is that there are people who are not receiving high-quality care. What we know is that, when you rip billions of dollars out—and the current Prime Minister was the then Treasurer who ripped almost $2 billion out of the aged-care system; $1.2 billion in his first budget came out of the aged-care budget, went back into consolidated revenue and was not spent on aged care—it has an impact on people. We know that it particularly has an impact on residents who have the highest needs in residential aged care, and that is those who require the most support and the most help.

We know that, today, there are 121,000 older Australians waiting for home care. Of those, more than 50,000 have no home care package at all. We know that many of the people waiting on that list need high-level care. They're waiting for level 3 and 4 packages. We know that, if they don't get that care, they often end up in emergency systems or in residential care. They should be able to get the care that they have been assessed for and that they need. Their families also need them to get that care so that they can return to work and not just be caring for their loved ones. We need to make sure that those people on that list get access to the care that they have been approved for and are entitled to.

We are a wealthy nation. We can and should do better when it comes to older Australians. There are so many issues that should be fixed today—that need to be fixed today. And, whilst supporting the royal commission, I implore the government: please, fix it today!

Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government would firstly like to thank the community for their support for the establishment of the royal commission into the aged-care sector. I know it's an issue that has been raised within my electorate of Dunkley, whether in my local aged-care facility visits or across the community, as well as in the wider community across Australia. Around 5,100 submissions were received from aged-care consumers, families, carers, aged-care workers, health professionals and providers. I would like to thank the minister for aged care, as well as the Prime Minister, the cabinet and others for their significant work in bringing about the royal commission.

This is indeed a vital step for Australia—to determine the full extent of the problems in aged care and to understand how we can meet the challenges, as well as the opportunities, of delivering and improving upon aged-care services now and into the future. It is also about helping to build a national culture of respect, and increasing respect, for ageing and our senior Australians. Some of the issues that I came across through my own grandmother's experience, as I've mentioned in this place recently, were of concern to me. They brought about a personal understanding of some of the issues that people go through in aged-care facilities as well as in retirement villages and other sectors related to that. I note that many people in the aged-care sector and in our retirement-village sector do a great job. But there are those who are doing the wrong thing, whether they are individuals or certain elements within the aged-care sector.

I note that, on 9 October 2018, the Prime Minister announced that the Governor-General had issued letters patent establishing a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. I would like to note now some of the issues that the aged-care royal commission will look into. Firstly, it will cover the quality of care provided to older Australians and the extent of substandard care. It will cover the challenge of providing care to Australians with disabilities living in residential aged care, particularly younger people with disabilities, which is an important element that we should not forget. It will also cover the challenge of supporting the increasing number of Australians suffering dementia and addressing their care needs as they age. It will cover the future challenges and opportunities for delivering aged-care services in the context of changing demographics, including in remote, rural and regional Australia, and it will also address any other matters that the royal commission considers necessary.

We know that there have been aged-care issues for governments, whether in the six years of the Labor government between 2007 to 2013 or the over five years of the coalition government since 2013. So these issues have gone across governments. To be fair, both Labor, when they were in government, and the coalition, while we've been in government, have been working to address these issues. But we need to go further, which is why the aged-care royal commission has been brought about. We need to look deeply into the issues, and we can't necessarily bring that about just through regular conversations. We can bring about the opportunity to speak to people, on a privileged basis as well, to see: what are the major issues facing the sector and where can we better address them? I am very proud of the actions of our government in launching this royal commission into aged care, particularly given some of the things that I've heard, for example, from my constituents, or some of the things we've seen on television or in the newspapers, not only over the last few weeks but over the last decade or more.

As I said before, I know, from my own family's experience, some of the issues across both the retirement-village sector and the aged-care sector. As I've said previously, I wish that my own grandmother had had the experience of some of the great places in my electorate, like the Village Baxter in Frankston, which has a very strong model and management, and has shown the ability to truly care for residents. I also had the privilege of going along to Village Baxter on the weekend. They had, at the conclusion of Seniors Week, an opportunity to have an open day and fete at the Village Baxter. I brought along my family—my wife and my daughter—not only to see some of the facilities but also to participate in some of the activities.

I should acknowledge and commend the students from Mount Erin College, which is the neighbouring school nearby, who were involved on Saturday, which is normally their day off from school. I thank the minister also for coming down on a number of occasions to speak about aged care in aged-care forums and for visiting a number of villages within my electorate. I am proud of the government's actions we have taken not only to improve the aged care sector but also with respect to the royal commission. (Time expired)

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is only one truth in this chamber today and that is our aged-care system is in absolute crisis and that for five years this government has failed to act, time and time again. In fact, the story of neglect is appalling. It is a story of cuts, $2 billion worth of cuts out of the aged-care sector. Since the 2014 budget, this government has been on notice that its work in this sector is coming up short. When first elected after the 2014 budget, I have a clear memory of visiting one of the not-for-profit aged-care facilities in my electorate to hear from the management there about the drastic impact the dementia supplement cuts were going to have on their day-to-day operations. I raised it in this House, as did many others on this side of the chamber. We knew that those cuts were going to have radical implications on the ground, particularly in the not-for-profit sector where they were going to be dealing with more and more high-care dementia patients with less and less funds to do so. It only got worse from there. We had a crisis around retirement villages that the member for Franklin spoke about often, as did I, and we called then for an ombudsman to look into that sector to make it easier for people to make complaints and to have their concerns heard.

We then come to the aged-care facilities and, again, we've had cut after cut after cut. The government signalled their intent in the 2014 budget and then, in the 2016 budget and the MYEFO, we saw further cuts. When the current Prime Minister was Treasurer, they looked for savings of $1.2 billion over four years with their changes to ACFI.

In contrast, in May in this chamber in the budget reply speech, Labor leader, Bill Shorten, announced that a Labor government would make dementia and ageing a national priority, and here we are today talking about the royal commission into aged care. After failure after failure after failure, we find ourselves with the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. This is despite the Carnell-Paterson review, commissioned by those opposite, that was delivered in October 2017. It is now October 2018, and we're here talking about a royal commission but failing to act on the recommendations of that review until this week, when legislation will be brought into this chamber.

Our ageing population need to know that they will be able to age with dignity. They need to know that they will be able to stay in their homes for as long as they can, living independent lives, with support. We know that home care packages are the way to prevent people having to go into aged-care facilities for a longer period of time. They give people the best chance of staying in their homes and living a dignified life, and this government have failed in that space. In home care packages, they have failed. They've come up short at every opportunity. They then make announcements with a list of 121,000 people waiting for home care packages, 50,000 of those waiting for level 3 and 4 home care packages. They make an announcement that will put some home care packages into the system but go nowhere near covering the needs of our community.

In contrast, in 2012, Labor went with Living Longer Living Better, an evidence-based policy about quality staff, about quality care, about dignity, about home care packages meaning people had preventative things put in place to avoid those accidents, to avoid those broken hips, to avoid the trips and falls, and to ensure that people could stay at home longer.

Rather than put itself in a positive position, this government has failed to act for five years now across the entire space. The royal commission is necessary, but we know already that there are areas that could be fixed today if this government so chose. I join the member for Franklin and call on this government to take the actions we know will assist today, to increase the number of home care packages, to get this system out of crisis as quickly as possible. Yes, we need a royal commission, but we already know some of the faults and we already know some of the solutions. This government needs to act today.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the great privileges of being able to represent the good people of Goldstein in this place is, of course, that it is a forward-looking, modern, liberal community concerned about the issues not just of today but also of the future. When I go around the Goldstein electorate and speak directly to residents, one of the most critical issues that come to their mind and their agenda is aged care and making sure that people at a vulnerable stage of life—whether it is themselves or it is their loved ones—get the support, the care and the assistance they need to make sure that they can live out their lives with dignity in the way that they carried themselves at earlier stages of life.

That's why the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is so important. While there are many good aged-care centres out there—and there are—and while there are many good aged-care workers, nurses, support staff and those who care for and support those people at that vulnerable stage of life every day and make sacrifices to do what is right, you cannot pretend that there have not been issues that have arisen from examples identified by this government, identified by state governments and identified, of course, by the media, which justify this royal commission to make sure that we are meeting the expectation that Australians have of us to support those at the latter stages of their life.

Of course, we know that these challenges are going to become more considerable and more complex over time. An ageing population is a testament to the wonder of modern medicine, economic progress and a society that values people for their full contribution and capacity in life. We have an obligation to support our elderly in the vulnerable stages of life and make sure they get that care. Goldstein, of course, is a perfect example of doing so. In Beaumaris, Black Rock and Brighton, more than 35 per cent of the population is aged over 55.

The royal commission is about correcting any trust deficit between aged-care operators and the community so that people can age with confidence. There are over 900 residential care providers across the country who will benefit from a reshaping and a rebuilding of that trust. The nurses, the care providers, the cleaners, the cooks and the volunteers help give our elderly healthier and happier lives. Their passion and commitment should be reflected in the sector's policies and governance, and that's why this government has made it such a priority.

We haven't twiddled our thumbs waiting for the commission's findings. The 2017 Legislated Review of Aged Care was a springboard for the changes announced in the 2018 budget to provide an extra $1.6 billion for home care. Aged-care funding will increase by an average of 6.4 per cent each year over the next four years. We also have legislated for new Aged Care Quality Standards, the first upgrade of standards in 20 years, and have introduced the bill to create the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, supported by $106 million to support better facilities, care and standards in aged care. And, since 2014, the government has allocated over 32,000 residential care places, and over 130,000 home care packages have been released and continue to be released at over 3,000 a week.

But of course what people want, what Australians want, is action. They don't just want to cover the issues affecting the elderly in aged care; they also want to make sure there's action affecting young Australians who need the support of aged care. I have already had constituents making sure that this issue is properly addressed. We can say with confidence that it is.

But, despite what may be revealed by the royal commission, one of the most critical things is that we do not beat up on the sector and diminish the standing of it when there are so many good people doing so much good work every day. We need to back them and to celebrate their achievements as much as we need to shine a very bright light into dark places. I was very privileged recently to be part of launching Fairway Aged Care, Bayside Aged Care's new facilities in Sandringham—only a week or so ago. It was a topic of great concern to the board and to the management there, including people like the president, Michael Scully, and the CEO and DON, Sandy May. Most critically, I was left with advice from the mayor and also Fairway's board member, Laurie Evans, who said, 'Tim, take it back to Canberra that there are so many of us in the aged-care and community space doing so much good work.' You heard Laurie. (Time expired)

Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to be able to speak on another occasion about aged care. The shadow minister, my good friend the member for Franklin, has moved several motions in this place, calling the government to account with respect to their serious delay in reporting key indicators with respect to access to vital aged-care services. Now I'm dealing with a motion moved by a member of the government. I thank the honourable member for moving the motion.

I must say that too often we are tempted in this place to deal with motherhood statements. It is obvious in this case that all Australians want to ensure that we look after our elderly. It is obvious that Australians can receive timely access to a level of service appropriate to their needs in their later years. But it's also a time for plain speaking, for honesty and for a direct discussion about failures in our aged-care system. Yet again I say that Labor welcomes the government's decision to hold a royal commission into the aged-care sector.

It is of course appropriate to recount why a royal commission is necessary. Around 1.3 million Australians are currently receiving some form of aged care provided by approximately 400,000 nurses and carers. By 2056 it is projected that the aged-care workforce will need to triple to around one million workers required to deliver services for more than 3.5 million Australians, and older people will represent an increased percentage of Australians. Public expenditure on aged care is expected to double as a share of the economy by the 2050s. I say again: on the present policy settings, aged-care expenditure is expected to double. That of course does not represent additional investment—an opportunity for this lot to crow about their commitment to record funding—that is merely maintaining the status quo. So that is the policy setting.

What have we seen on this government's watch? Right now, the aged-care system is in crisis. The fact that the aged-care system is in crisis should be obvious to any reasonable observer. It was obvious to many before this royal commission was called. When Labor raised this issue, when we pressed the issue—as we must in calling the government to account—we were heavily criticised by the minister. Indeed, when I've spoken on motions that I've previously referred to I'm tempted to say that the minister responded with bluster and obfuscation—indeed, with denial. Now this crisis is recognised implicitly with the calling of a royal commission. Billions of dollars have been cut from aged care in the past five years by this Liberal government. The Prime Minister, Mr Morrison, cut almost $2 billion in his first year as Treasurer and, shamefully, his government denies that fact. There are 121,000 people on the home care package waiting list, including over 88,000 with high needs—many living with dementia. More than a dozen reviews and reports, including hundreds of recommendations, still sit on the minister's desk without being actioned. Three different aged-care ministers across the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments have had the responsibility for this for the past five years but have failed to undertake any real reform across the aged-care portfolio.

Aged care has been a policy area which has attracted a significant level of bipartisanship. Labor introduced welcome reform with its Living Longer Living Better reforms. It's important to understand that the central philosophy driving policy was that of consumer-directed care, providing greater choice for older Australians, not just as to the care they wanted but also delivering independence and support to live at home for as long as possible. There was a growing wave of outcry from the public about the quality of care older Australians have received, particularly in residential aged-care facilities. This was highlighted by the investigations around elder abuse and neglect at the South Australian Oakden facility. In response to the Oakden inquiry there was a Senate inquiry. This triggered the government to commission a review, which is better known as the Carnell-Paterson review. This review was handed to the then Turnbull government in October 2017.

This government has not addressed this policy area with any success, which is evident from the significant level of public concern around the aged-care sector. More than a dozen reviews and reports, including hundreds of recommendations, still sit within government. They sit on the minister's desk without being actioned, even though this royal commission has been called. The royal commission is to be welcomed, but we need action. We need something to be done now, not waiting for the results of the royal commission. (Time expired)

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I acknowledge the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, Ken Wyatt, who is in attendance in the chamber, and I thank the minister for the visits he has made to my region. Aged care is an incredibly important provision of services into my local region for some very simple reasons. The first one is that as at March 2018 I had 27,738 people on the aged pension and 47,506 on a pension concession card. That is a substantial amount for local voters in the Hinkler electorate who will need these services moving into the future. It is an important issue for them, so it is an important issue for me. Can I also congratulate the member for Fairfax, better known as 'Super Ted' O'Brien, for bringing forward this PMB and giving us the opportunity to demonstrate our support.

As I said, all issues are local. For my people, simply because they live in a regional area does not mean that they are second-class citizens. It does not mean that they should have fewer services or lower ability to access those services than their city counterparts. Unfortunately, over a long period of time we have seen, particularly around ACAT assessments, real difficulty for the Labor state government to deliver those assessments in any reasonable time frame. At a federal level we continue to fund those, but unfortunately we do not see sufficient services in the regions to do these in any reasonable time. That means that people wait longer to get themselves onto the waiting list and they wait longer for a package, right from the commencement point. This is the challenge that we've addressed sometimes before, but we do need to address it again. Certainly, consumers do not understand the difference in the packages from 1 through 4. They certainly don't understand that prior to level 4 they may still be waiting for those packages for a considerable amount of time. I personally think that is unacceptable. We need to do better, in terms of the delivery of these packages into regional areas, particularly for those smaller centres. If you live in Monto or Eidsvold or Biggenden, all inside the electorate of the member for Flynn, Ken O'Dowd, those services are provided in the major regional centres, in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay. It means that their loved ones have to travel to those regional centres to visit them.

Once again, I want to point out the work of the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care. Ken Wyatt has worked in very difficult circumstances. Let's face facts here: it is very often that these circumstances are with grieving families. They are grieving families who have found themselves in a position where their loved one has passed on. It is a tough role, and I congratulate him on the work that he's done. I also congratulate the member for Goldstein. We don't often see eye to eye, but on this we do. We cannot tar everyone in the aged-care industry with the same brush. We cannot say to the entire aged-care industry that they are not performing, that they are in crisis. The reality is that there are very hardworking people in the aged-care sector who are doing a good job. There are aged-care residential services that are doing a fantastic job, particularly in my electorate. We have any number of new facilities which have just opened in the last 12 months which are top class—five star. In fact, one of them I always looked at as a cruise ship offering. It's quite incredible. Where there are those bad seeds that are not providing sufficient services, where those organisations are not providing sufficient boots on the ground, then it is the department's role to crack down on them. That is what we have been doing. Once again, I thank minister for aged care for the action that he took in one particular residence in my electorate. I must say, again, that it is not a reflection on the sector that you have one individual organisation with some challenges that need to be addressed.

The aged-care royal commission has been called. It will be about facts; it will not be about people out there politicising this very difficult issue. It will be about an individual with the resources and the facilities to investigate the facts, make determinations and make further recommendations. It is a difficult sector. As I've said, these are people who demand our respect and who deserve our respect. They have lived through changes in technology, like you wouldn't believe, from the donkey hot water system and the combustion stove. They've been through World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. They have lost children and grandchildren on their way through life. When they find themselves at the tail end and not the beginning, it is up to us to ensure the facilities and services that they need and deserve are provided. I look forward to the results of the aged-care royal commission, and certainly to getting to the facts and establishing what we can do to improve those services for them.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners and pay my respect to their elders past and present. We can learn a lot from the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet. We are privileged to inhabit this continent of Australia. Indigenous Australians honour their elders, and so many of the different ethnic communities in my electorate honour their elders. So many cultures around the world have their elderly stay with the younger family; it's seen to be a responsibility that they have. I think when we look at the Australian aged-care system, which has developed very differently, we have a culture in this country where people go through it, perhaps in steps, and end up in aged-care facilities. We should bear that in mind and we should ensure that respect is at the centre of the way we treat those people who've helped build this nation, who've helped raise families and who've helped make a difference. That's why I support the government's decision to finally agree with Labor's call for a royal commission into the aged-care sector.

We didn't need to watch Four Corners to know that this aged-care system is facing a crisis. The truth has been around for some time. Over recent years there has been increasing media attention of the problem. We've heard disturbing reports about frail aged Australians being mistreated in facilities meant to be dedicated to their wellbeing. This is a many-layered problem and a problem we must not ignore. It's about inadequate resourcing. It's about pay levels for aged-care workers. It's about ensuring that aged-care facilities meet required standards and taking action when they do not. It is about that culture of respect.

Safeguarding the dignity of older Australians is a fundamental responsibility of this parliament. About 1.3 million Australians are supporting residential home and community aged care, including home support packages and services such as social support and meal delivery. That figure includes 240,000 who call an aged-care facility home. These people are our parents or grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters or, indeed, friends. That's why Australians need to be secure in the knowledge that, as we all grow old, when we reach a point where we need assistance to look after ourselves there will be a society that pledges to look after them.

Funding is critical. It does matter. That's why the government's changes to funding, which they called a cap to the Aged Care Funding Instrument, needs to be called out for what it is. It was due to grow by $3 billion. Instead, as a result of the now Prime Minister's first budget, it is due to grow by $1.8 billion. That's a 1.2 billion cut. That cut was not put into other areas of aged care; it was simply put back into consolidated revenue. Then, that was followed up with another $500 million cut, meaning that $1.7 billion has been ripped out of the system by this ATM government—an ATM government that is not putting dollars back in; an ATM government that just takes deposits, but not withdrawals that are then used for the benefit of elderly Australians. I hope that the royal commission will act as a reminder to all governments that, whilst spending matters, people matter too and we need to make a real difference with this royal commission. It is good that government is having a royal commission, not for political purposes but to make a difference. I think it can certainly do this.

In the remaining time, I want to say that the issue of people from non-English-speaking backgrounds particularly has to be addressed. Elderly people from these backgrounds lose their English in many cases and go back to their first language, and they need specific support arising out of this. We need, too, as the Prime Minister has said, a culture of respect for older Australians. That's something the parliament should unite on.

Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I come here today not to praise aged care but to bury it. This motion by my good friend the member for Fairfax goes a long way to expressing the challenges that our nation faces. Everyone else in this debate has noted that our population is ageing rapidly and our capacity as a community to pay for this ageing cohort's health will also become increasingly difficult to fund as the number of people who are of working age proportionately decreases. Increasingly, as a community, we are asking people to fund their own care into old age. In return, the least we can do is to ensure that the quality of the care is improving, of good quality, and reliably so.

Both parties, I believe, come to this debate largely with clean hands. Previous Liberal ministers such as the member for Menzies and the member for Pearce were both pathfinders when it comes to aged care. The sector still considers both of them to have been the best of the best. They've both instituted a policy framework that got out of the way where it could and emphasised the importance of delivering reliable and quality care, but otherwise allowed providers the maximum flexibility to provide care that fitted the needs of our community. This allowed private providers to come into the sector and massively improve both the quality and range of care as well as the level of aesthetics that a resident and their family could expect. When I first started working in aged care, in 2004, I still remember walking into the UnitingCare nursing home at Croydon and being overcome with the stench of urine. This was by no means an isolated incident. I once visited a facility in Bathurst where the staff were all in the parking lot smoking as I drove in. I could not find anyone to help me and nearly all of the residents were in a cold common room watching a fish tank.

I'm glad to say that after the reforms of the members for Menzies and Pearce this has largely stopped. The massive investment by private sector operators has lifted the care and quality of aged care out of a postwar malaise in which aged care was seen as an annexe to the local hospital.

The member for Port Adelaide, Mark Butler, should also be noted in this debate. His reforms were both overdue and needed. They took the focus off form and onto substance. These reforms firmly put the focus on the care of residents first and foremost and stood up to the entrenched interests groups in the sector who have other concerns. The current minister, Ken Wyatt, who is in the chamber at the moment, has worked admirably to improve upon those changes, including massively expanding the number of unannounced audits.

This is not to say, by any means, that all is well in aged care. I want to see a more perfect system. Our work towards that will never be finished and nor should it be. However, in any consideration of how to move towards the perfect, we should emphasise those things that have worked and have provided better care for our tribal leaders. The reforms that have allowed so much private investment have massively lifted the performance of the entire sector. Consumer choice has put pressure on providers to give all the quality of care and life that they deserve in their last home. This incentive has meant that we are far more aware of when providers fall down and do not live up to our expectations.

But we should not ignore the failures. The artificial cap on bed places has meant too many Australians are forced to stay at home or else go into nursing homes that do not meet the standards that we would hope for as a community. This artificial cap on competition has brought about situations like the Oakden nursing home scandal in South Australia, in which the Butler reforms were universally ignored. The then South Australian government cared more about those working at the facility than the people they were meant to be caring for.

If the royal commission achieves nothing else, it should be this: that whatever government strictures there are on choice of our tribal elders are removed, when it comes to their final home, especially if this allows more investment; and that no government should care more about the vested interests of those working in aged care over those that they are meant to be caring for.

Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must say I find it galling how quick government members, like the member for Fairfax, have been to shower themselves with praise for establishing a royal commission into the aged-care sector, how quickly they've been to pat themselves on the back after it took them such an excruciatingly long time to act. There is no member opposite who can truthfully say they have done all they can to fix the crisis in the aged-care sector that has been allowed to happen. There was no member opposite who could say, when the damning reports of rife exploitation within the sector were heard, they responded quickly and appropriately. And no member opposite can say they have been standing up for the seniors in their constituency by ensuring that they have access to the care that they need, be it in a dedicated facility or through a home care package. We are still waiting for action and yet we see the government congratulating themselves on a job well done.

Referring this crisis to a royal commission is a start. It's a start but it's nothing more. We know that there is a dire problem now. We know that we need to act now because, in the short-term, a royal commission won't change anything—at least not until the report's handed down and that's not until mid-2020. The government cannot use the royal commission as an excuse to delay fixing this crisis now, but this motion seems to indicate that they intend to do exactly that. Instead of patting themselves on the back before resting on their laurels, the government need to act now. They have a moral obligation to do so and they need to do it now because things just seem to be getting worse.

I'd like to just give an example to the government and the members listening here. I was speaking to the wife of a constituent recently who's been approved for a level 4 package. He has taken a level 2 package just to get some support. This man's wife's employer and her co-workers have raised $10,000 to help provide simple and basic care and support that this aged-care package isn't providing because he's had to take a lower package than what he's entitled to. It is absolutely disgusting. It is not just constituents who are raising with me the fact that they are waiting for their package or for the appropriate package. I have GPs in my area who are contacting me, advocating on behalf of their patients, asking me to get something done now for their patients. It is the whole community that is outraged about this.

It was when the June 2018 quarter of home care packages was released that we saw just how negligent this government has become with its treatment of older Australians. Since the first release of data, the waiting list for home care has grown from 88,000 to more than 121,000 older Australians waiting for packages. This is an appalling indictment on the Prime Minister and the government that he leads. Despite having claimed that aged care would be a focus of this prime ministership, Prime Minister Morrison has stood idly by as things have become worse and worse. This is unsurprising given his track record. Let's remember, as Treasurer, this Prime Minister ripped almost $2 billion from the care of older Australians—$2 billion caring for the very people who built this nation—and then he questions why things are getting worse. This is typical Liberal Party behaviour—cut first and ask questions later.

I will always stand up for older Australians in my electorate. Seniors living in Caboolture, Bribie and Burpengary all deserve to live in comfort and with dignity. They deserve compassion and they deserve the care that they need. I'm proud to be part of Labor, who will be fighting for what's right. We're committed to a strong and sustainable aged-care system, one that delivers choice, easy access and better care for older Australians and their families and their carers.

In the few seconds I have remaining, I'd like to make a special mention of the amazing, hardworking qualified professionals, people like Heather Jackson, delivering nursing care and personal care to those in our aged-care sector. They continue to deliver for older Australians while this government sits by and does nothing.

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Longman. There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.