Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. In a recent survey of more than 1,000 aged-care workers, 97 per cent said they were yet to receive the bonus payment the Prime Minister promised them, despite it being available from 1 March. If the Prime Minister hasn't delivered on this one-off payment to the heroes of the pandemic, why should Australians believe anything he announced in his budget?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. In particular, in relation to workforce bonus payments, $600 million has been made available across four payments to our aged-care workers. That includes three payments which have already been made. The current payments are being made. That $600 million is for those who have retained and stayed in the working period during the course of the pandemic. Those aged-care workers have been fantastic, and that is why we've had not just one, not just two and not just three, but we are now entering the period for the fourth payment. Those first three payments have already been completed. The total funding that is available is $600 million. But for our nurses and our aged-care workers this is one of a multiplicity of payments. Within the budget we have not just the workforce bonus payment; we also have the clinical placements—that's 5,250 new clinical placements at $15 million—for student nurses in the aged-care and support sector. There's $148.7 million for aged-care nurses payments over and above the temporary payments. That is a payment of up to $3,700 per year.

Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

A point of order on relevance: this is very interesting information being provided by the minister. You've made the funding available. My question is why 97 per cent of aged-care workers have not yet received it. What good is it if they don't get the money?

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister is being relevant to the question. The minister has the call.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) | Link to this | Hansard source

Payments are made as and when they are received.

Opposition members interjecting—

No—when the applications are received. Payments are made as and when the applications are received. In relation to the first three periods, which have been completed, I'm advised that all—100 per cent—of applications received have been paid out. Now, as the current period commences, those payments are also being made as the appropriate periods are being reached and as the applications are being made and received. In addition to that, though, the aged-care registered nurses payment of $3,700 per year is also available, not just as a temporary measure or a pandemic measure but as a long-term retention initiative.

Further than that, in the budget, there's $5.7 million for the Aged Care Transition to Practice program, which supports up to 1,300 registered nurses. In addition to that, the Aged Care Nursing Scholarship and allied health dementia program contains $26 million and is currently being distributed. In addition to that, the current budget has $32.7 million for rural health and multidisciplinary training programs. In addition to that, $2.6 million of online training is available. But, in relation to those periods which have been completed, for which applications have been received, 100 per cent of payments have actually been made.