Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

Last night I concluded my comments about this suite of bills—the Aged Care (Bond Security) Bill 2005, the Aged Care (Bond Security) Levy Bill 2005 and the Aged Care Amendment (2005 Measures No. 1) Bill 2005by making the point that this government has missed a number of opportunities. It has been provided with plenty of advice to date about the necessary reforms that need to happen urgently in aged care. I made the point that the Senate Community Affairs References Committee report was received by this government some 10 months ago. In that report, there were a number of recommendations that, finally, after the debacle, after the horrific stories that we have heard in the last few weeks, this government seems to have adopted. But it is too little too late.

I take this opportunity to make the point that the ministerial advisory committee that met was an existing committee. Whilst it had representation of considerable value, it did not have representation from advocates of residents who live in aged care homes or from people with absolute expertise on elder abuse, and that was a huge oversight and a missed opportunity from the Minister for Ageing.

Now we have to wait for a cabinet submission. It has been announced with great fanfare, but let us get on with it, Minister. There is a lot to be done; we have to restore confidence in residential aged care in this country. I concur with the words of Paul Sadler, the well-respected Chief Executive Officer of the Aged and Community Services Association of NSW and ACT. He said in a letter to the editor in the Sydney Morning Herald:

So I believe the minister’s committee made a good start, but much more needs to happen.

He went on to say:

It is imperative that this happens as soon as possible, because we need to protect our older citizens before they and their families lose faith in the aged-care system.

We are very close to that point, and I suggest that the response by the minister to date has fallen well short of restoring confidence in residential aged care.

In the time that I have left, I take the opportunity to remind the Senate that it is this government that has presided over a diminution in the number of aged care beds that are currently provided per 1,000 people over 70 in Australia. In 1995 there were 92 operational aged care beds for every 1,000 people aged over 70 years. In 2005 there were only 85 residential aged care beds. That is a drop of seven beds for every 1,000 people over 70 in Australia, and I am afraid to say that the graph is going downhill. After 10 years, this government has not faced up to the aged care bed crisis in Australia. Every week I hear from families—and I know my colleagues hear from families, because they tell me, and I know that government senators and members hear from families—complaining about the inability to get their loved one the appropriate care they want in residential aged care.

When the Howard government came into office, there was a target of 90 beds for every 1,000 people aged over 70. Labor had exceeded that target. We were up to 92, but what is the case now? We are down to 85. Against the target of 90 beds per 1,000 people over 70, there is a shortage now of 9,275 beds. But, instead of fixing the problem, they quietly lowered the target. Now the target reads at 88 residential aged care beds for every 1,000 people over 70. Even against their own reduced target, there is still a shortage in this country of 5,500 aged care beds. There are thousands of frail, elderly Australians desperate for support and desperate to get into residential aged care so that their care needs can be delivered.

I know that the government will say, ‘We’ve increased the number of community aged care packages.’ Yes, that is good. We accept that. We think that is a great idea, but you cannot deny that people are looking for residential aged care beds, especially high-care beds. That is a truth that the government cannot hide behind. They cannot say that they will continue to increase the number of community aged care packages. That is well received but not enough. The Productivity Commission reported in 2005 that 30 per cent of people needing nursing home care have to wait more than three months to get a bed, which is up from a figure of 15 per cent in 2000. There are significant shortages of beds in Australia and that issue has to be dealt with.

In conclusion, Labor will support this proposal. It goes some way towards protecting the accommodation bonds that are held in Australia. But, as part of my contribution, I will move a second reading amendment that has been circulated in the chamber, which identifies the lack of action of this government. I move:

At the end of the motion add:

“but the Senate:

        (1)    notes:

             (a)    there have been allegations of sexual abuse in five aged care facilities in Australia.

             (b)    the only response, to date, from the Minister for Ageing to call together an existing aged care committee, which whilst contains people with expertise in aged care, did not include advocates of residents in aged care nor people with specific experience in elder abuse.

        (2)    Condemns the Government for failing to:

             (a)    conduct an independent inquiry to determine if there has been an increase in sexual abuse of residents in aged care facilities;

             (b)    respond to, for nearly 10 months since the tabling of the Senate Committee Report of the Community Affairs References Committee, Quality and Equity in Aged Care, which recommended in part:

12: That the Agency ensure that all facilities be subject to a minimum of one annual random or targeted spot check and at least one site visit with notification over its accredited period.

16: That the Commonwealth review the operations of the Aged Care Complaints Resolution Scheme to ensure that the Scheme:

• is accessible and responsive to complainants;
• provides for a relaxation of the strict eligibility criteria for accepting complaints;
• registers all complaints as a complaint, with the complaints being categorised by their degree of severity, such as moderate level of complaint, complaints where mediation is required or where more significant levels of intervention are required; and
• provides that the mediation process is responsive and open and that sufficient support for complainants is provided in this process.

17: That the Commonwealth examine the feasibility of introducing whistleblower legislation to provide protection for people, especially staff of aged care facilities, disclosing allegations of inadequate standards of care or other deficiencies in aged care facilities.

18: That the Commissioner for Complaints conduct an investigation into the nature and extent of retribution and intimidation of residents in aged care facilities and their families, including the need for a national strategy to address this issue.

             (c)    answer, on 2 March 2006, the Senate question on whether there were any other aged care facilities in Australia being investigated for sexual abuse allegations.

        (3)    Calls on the Federal Government to urgently restore community confidence in residential aged care in Australia”.

(Time expired)