Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that:

(a) on 31 March 2025, 89,597 older Australians were waiting for a Home Care Package at their approved level, 70,223 without receiving lower-level Home Care Package services;

(b) many older Australians are waiting up to a year to receive a Home Care Package at their approved level; and

(c) although many people are approved to receive Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) services while waiting for Home Care at their approved level, those in regional and rural areas have great difficulty accessing CHSP services due to providers' lack of capacity and poor coverage of some Aged Care Planning Regions (ACPRs);

(2) acknowledges that:

(a) during 2023-24, 3,383 people passed away and 7,380 people entered residential aged care while waiting for a Home Care Package at their approved level;

(b) the Government's deferral of an additional 80,000 Support at Home places from the commencement of the new Aged Care Act 2024 from 1 July 2025 to the revised start date of 1 November 2025 is having a profound, adverse impact on older Australians; and

(c) CHSP providers are funded under grant agreements to deliver services in ACPRs, but it is a provider's business decision whether to deliver services to specific areas within the ACPR, meaning some would-be recipients miss out; and

(3) calls on the Government to urgently:

(a) address systemic issues in the CHSP which see people in many regional and rural areas unable to even get on a provider's waiting list for services; and

(b) commence delivery of 80,000 additional packages promised in December 2024 so that older Australians are not left waiting up to a year or more for much-needed care.

The government is failing on aged care. The government said they would put care back into aged care, but they are categorically failing in this regard. They're failing in every aspect of home care—whether it's the Commonwealth Home Support Program, getting assessed for home care, or receiving a home-care package. I don't even have the time to talk about residential care and the waiting lists to get into it.

Let's start with this: at the end of last year, the government promised 83,000 home-care packages. They were going to be delivering 20,000 of these home-care packages, the first tranche, by 1 July this year. Then they pushed that out to November this year—we believe November this year. As of 31 March, there were more than 89,000 older Australians waiting for a home-care package. Those were the ones that were being assessed. We found out in the Senate last week that there are 120,000 Australians waiting for that phone call—waiting for that appointment, to get assessed for home care. Right now, we believe there are more than 100,000 older Australians that have been assessed for home care but have not received a package and that are desperately waiting—waiting for over a year—plus 120,000 people that the government doesn't want to have on that waitlist that are waiting to be assessed.

This is an abject moral failure at every step. Two things happen. The government says, 'People will get a CHSP code.' Well, that means nothing, because the CHSP is full. Many organisations are not even taking a waitlist for CHSP because it's full, and the government hasn't put extra money into it. The other thing they say is, 'It's okay; if you are a high priority, you'll get your package within a month.' Well, I don't know anyone who is a high priority. In my office—in the electorate with the oldest median age in South Australia—we are working with people who are desperate for home care.

One of those people is Graham. Graham is on a level 2 package. In August 2024, Graham was assessed as needing level 4. He has a degenerative neurological condition and he desperately needs that care. He has already spent nine weeks in hospital. He's lost significant mobility. He can no longer stand unassisted. He's lost his independence and can no longer drive. Yet Graham is not considered high priority. Graham is medium priority, like everyone else.

The government promised they were going to put care back into aged care, but it has been a complete failure, and it's a failure because of government will. That is the only reason. When government wants to spend money on stuff, the dollars magically appear—the chequebook is out. But the government has delayed putting up these home-care packages because, I think, it doesn't care. Maybe older people don't vote for the Labor government, so they're thinking, 'The election's done; we don't need to worry about that now.' But, right now, we have people dying waiting for home-care packages. How can it be acceptable in our nation for people to be waiting up to a year to get an assessment? In many cases in my electorate, it's over six months. And how can it then be acceptable, once they get that assessment, to wait another year for a package? How can that be so?

And, you know what, this affects all of us. This doesn't just affect older people and it doesn't just affect their daughters—and it's largely their daughters who are helping to care for people. It affects all of us, because in nearly every state we've got ambulance ramping. Why? This is because older people that desperately need help in the home end up hospitalised, and then they're taking up those beds. The emergency department can't get through them, and it's a clog the whole way. Peak bodies, like COTA, National Seniors, OPAN and Ageing Australia, are all talking about this. They're all demanding urgent action. Over 3,300 people died in the previous financial year while waiting for a home-care package.

Shame on this government for not delivering those packages. And it's only because of the will of government—nothing else.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased today to rise in support and to second this motion from the member for Mayo, and I thank her for her longstanding commitment to improving aged-care services over many years, particularly home care, in her electorate and right across Australia. And she has good reason to be angry this morning.

Like Mayo, my electorate of Indi has an older population with a median age above 45 years, and both of our electorates are amongst the oldest electorates in this country. So we know this issue extremely well. Accessible aged-care services are vital to communities in our electorates, as they are right across regional Australia. For many, access to home-care support is often the difference between staying at home in their local community or having to pack up, leave town and go to a regional centre where residential aged care is available—uprooting their lives. People are having to do that faster than they should because of this problem with aged care in the home.

The reality is home care is harder to access in the regions than in the cities. In Indi, families face long waits, not just because there's the assessment backlog but because there are fewer home-care providers willing or able to service rural towns. In places like Bright, Corryong, Kinglake and Alexandra, older Australians are often waiting longer simply because providers cannot staff those areas. Because of the need to travel further, packages cost more to deliver in regional Australia, and yet the funding model does not adequately account for this reality. So, while the motion before the House notes that people are waiting three to six months for an assessment, I can say that in my electorate that is a conservative estimate. Without home care, families are often to fill the gap, as the member for Mayo has just told us. In regional communities this means adult children juggling work, small businesses, long commutes and unpaid caring duties.

It's why I welcomed the Aged Care Act, a new aged care act that we so desperately needed. I was optimistic, and I remain optimistic that finally, when it comes to pass, the new Support at Home program will make home care simpler and easier to access for older persons and their families.

But here's the rub. The government's six-month delay of the new act was reluctantly supported by the sector, because it is important to get this transition right. However, this delay has real-world implications for home-care support. In particular, the sector opposes the delayed release of 80,000 new home-care packages. The government has consistently rejected calls from peak bodies, such as OPAN and COTA, as well as from members of the crossbench to release, at a minimum, 20,000 packages to hold the waitlist steady until the new system commences in November.

Now, despite this commonsense approach, a commonsense call, incredibly, the minister has offered little reason for rejecting the ask and—even more extraordinarily, astonishingly—is accusing them of politicising the issue. Look, I can't understand this. While the member for Mayo's motion notes a waitlist of 86,000 people in March, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing last week confirmed the waitlist is now above 120,000 people—an almost 50 per cent increase in six months. These are people. Now consider this. With another 87,000 people approved but not yet receiving care, this means that there are more than 200,000 Australians—staggering numbers—not getting the care they need and absolutely deserve.

It's why the current Senate inquiry into home-care delays is so important. It is already uncovering concerning figures that reinforce the need for urgent action to reduce the home-care waitlist. For example, the Department of Health and Aged Care confirmed the gridlock, admitting last week that there have been no—I mean no—additional home-care packages made available in the last two months. The 2,700 weekly plans often spruiked by the minister are not new packages but plans made available due to older persons dying or moving into residential aged care. While the minister repeatedly says that high-priority applicants would receive help within a month, high-priority applicants in my electorate are waiting months, not weeks. The fact is that the waitlist for home care is getting longer, not shorter, and this is the last thing older persons and their families need—more delays and more uncertainty when they were promised the opposite by this government.

This motion is not about political pointscoring. This motion is about listening to older Australians, looking at the data and asking the government to do what is necessary and to do what is right. I commend the member for Mayo for bringing this to the attention of the House, and it's time the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors stepped up and delivered.

Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The No.1 recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was clear: deliver a new aged care act that puts older people at the very centre of the system. That's exactly what this Labor government is delivering on 1 November this year. This isn't tinkering around the edges; these are once-in-a-generation reforms—reforms that will deliver world-class aged care to the Australians who have worked hard all their lives to build this country, including many people in my own electorate of Maribyrnong. The new Aged Care Act is the next step in Labor's ambitious plan to fix aged care.

We know demand for home care is growing as our population ages. Families in my community tell me time and time again how important it is that their loved ones can get the right support to stay at home longer, because home is where they feel most connected, most independent and most valued. That's why these reforms matter. Today around 300,000 people across Australia access a home-care package, double the number just five years ago. In Maribyrnong, thousands of older residents rely on home-care services every single day. These packages are the differences between independence and isolation and the difference between someone being able to cook a meal in their own kitchen and being forced prematurely into residential care.

Last year alone, the government invested more than $8 billion into home-care packages, compared to just over $1 billion a decade ago. That's real investment delivering real care to more people than ever before. Crucially, older Australians assessed as high priority will continue to receive their package within a month. That's peace of mind for families and peace of mind for carers. From 1 November, under the new Support at Home program, more than 80,000 new home-care places will be rolled out in the first 12 months. Until then, our No. 1 priority is ensuring continuity of care for every older person already receiving services.

Every older Australian deserves access to high-quality aged care no matter where they live or what kind of care they need. That's why Labor is investing more than $1 billion every single year to strengthen services in regional, rural and remote areas, and this year alone $2.3 billion will support providers in thin markets, including $840 million in extra funding for residential aged-care providers in the regions, better reflecting the true cost of care, and $490 million for integrated health and aged-care services for more than 5,000 people and for culturally safe care for around 2,000 First Nations elders. In Maribyrnong, I've spoken with local aged-care providers and community organisations, from small multicultural groups in suburbs like Essendon and Keilor East to larger residential homes in Flemington and Ascot Vale. They tell me that funding certainly matters. It means that they can employ staff, expand services and give families confidence that their loved ones will be looked after properly.

As part of Labor's $5.6 billion aged-care reform package, we are also delivering $300 million in capital support for providers in regional, rural and remote Australia, funding construction upgrades and expansion of services, and $637 million to ensure home care is available in remote communities and for people with diverse backgrounds and life experiences. Maribyrnong is home to a vibrant multicultural community, most notably the Greek and Italian diaspora. Our community has been built by generations of migrants, and today many of those same families are caring for ageing parents and grandparents. The new Aged Care Act will ensure culturally appropriate care is front and centre so older people in communities like mine can age with dignity, language support and services that truly understand their needs.

Last year we invested more than $400 million to make Commonwealth Home Support Program services more accessible. Through over 1,200 providers, not-for-profits, local councils and community organisations, we are helping older Australians remain in their homes and communities for longer. Under Labor's reforms, the CHSP will transition into the new Support at Home program, creating a simpler, fairer and more equitable system that gives older people greater choice and control.

The message is simple: Labor is delivering more care for more Australians than ever before. We are delivering a record number of home-care packages, and we are delivering reforms that put dignity, quality and fairness back into aged care. For communities like mine where families value staying connected, where ageing parents are the foundation of households and where diversity is our greatest strength, these reforms will mean older Australians can keep living the lives that they choose, surrounded by the people and places that they love. Every older Australian, whether they live in Maribyrnong or Mayo, deserves nothing less.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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.