Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to shine a light on a condition very close to my heart and very close to the hearts of thousands of Australians. My grandson, our beautiful Caleb, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes earlier this year. He is in primary school. It came as a shock to us all, and we certainly didn't have any experience whatsoever in dealing with type 1 diabetes. Nonetheless, as many families across Australia will know, when your child receives a health diagnosis, you leap into action, you band together and you gain as much information and support as you possibly can.

Caleb now lives with type 1 diabetes, and with good medical advice and the love and care of family he does it well. He's a resilient, loving child with a bright future. Caleb, like many other children his age, enjoys building Lego—and fantastic ones at that. I believe he's going to be a future architect. He enjoys playing with his friends, cycling and kayaking.

The one difference is Caleb has to now be very aware of what he eats when sharing snacks at recess with his school friends, when sharing lolly bags and birthday cake and when going out for breakfast, lunch or dinner with family. Other kids his age do not carry these worries. He has to make sure he carries his insulin, medication and needles, and he has to measure each dose in relation to his food intake. This means he constantly has to carry his little rucksack of medication with him, even during school lessons, recess and lunchtime. Type 1 diabetes means 24/7 monitoring, with every day a balancing act between administering insulin and monitoring glucose levels. These levels can be impacted by food, exercise, heat, illness, stress and more. This balance is critical but also incredibly challenging.

Fortunately for Caleb, he's able to receive a continuous glucose monitoring product under the National Diabetes Services Scheme because he's under the age of 21. However, before our election commitment, anyone over the age of 21 living with this irreversible condition would have an out-of-pocket cost of $5,000 to have access to this device. The Albanese Labor government will deliver our election commitment to give all eligible Australians living with type 1 diabetes access to subsidised continuous glucose monitoring products. This technology makes managing type 1 diabetes easier and more effective, but for many people the cost was previously prohibitive. Under our commitment Australians will not pay more than $32.50 per month. Important ongoing research needs to be done in relation to type 1 diabetes; however, this commitment will help keep people with type 1 diabetes safer and healthier through access to the best possible management technologies.

Let me explain what a continuous glucose monitoring product does. Caleb has Dexcom G6, which wirelessly sends updates of his insulin levels to an app. Caleb's mum and grandparents have this app, including me. This means that when Caleb's insulin drops below a certain level, we each get instant pips of notification. We are also instantly notified when his levels are too high. We are able to view a map of his levels throughout the day and night. This technology is quite literally a lifesaver, and it sits here right next to me wherever I go. No matter how far away I am from him, I can monitor his levels and be there for him when needed. Whether we're at home or travelling, we still receive the real-time notifications. The technology is incredibly important for people living with type 1 diabetes.

We have no idea how long Caleb has had diabetes. The reason we found out was that he was going to the toilet a few times during the night. In our ignorance we thought it was because he was drinking too much fluid before bedtime, so we reduced how much he could drink. Of course that made no difference whatsoever, so an appointment with the doctor was arranged, blood tests were arranged and then a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was made.

In my electorate of Pearce in WA there are 1,030 Australians living with type 1 diabetes—one of the highest figures per electorate Australia-wide. Of these, more than half will be eligible for this new technology as of 1 July. Caleb's mum and I will be participating in the JDRF One Walk, which is a 120-kilometre walk, to raise funds for type 1 diabetes research. I would like to sincerely thank the Albanese Labor government and the Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon. Mark Butler, for their strong advocacy surrounding this issue.