Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think we should be clear that there is a campaign going on here. It is a campaign designed to excite fear in older Australians in particular that in some way services to older Australians are at risk, in decline, not adequate, and that rigorous standards are not available to protect the people who access those services. Let us be clear: no matter what regime one establishes, no matter how many services are provided, no matter how much money is pumped into a particular sector, it is always possible to find someone somewhere who does not meet those service standards. The best questions to ask are: to what extent have standards lifted, to what extent are standards falling short, and where can the Australian community find evidence that those things are occurring?

It needs to be said absolutely clearly that the standard of aged-care facilities available to older Australians today is vastly better than it was 10 years ago—immeasurably better than it was then. I acknowledge Senator Moore’s concession that that is the case, that there have certainly been improvements and that she welcomes new initiatives. That is fantastic. But it is important when engaging in this debate that we explain to Australians that that is the case and not mislead them into thinking that there are serious problems across Australia because in some homes, in some facilities across Australia, those standards are not met.

I accept that, in debates of this kind, it is the job of Senator McLucas and others to draw attention to weaknesses in the system—but only as long as they do not mislead people into thinking that Australian aged-care facilities are facing some kind of crisis. After listening to Senator McLucas, one could be forgiven for believing that there is a crisis in Australian aged care when, in fact, in fairness, if there has ever been a crisis in Australian aged care, it took place 10 or more years ago. That is when the inquiry to which reference was made in question time today was set up which exposed the dangers and weaknesses in Australian aged care. That was the point at which there was a crisis in aged care in Australia, and that crisis has eased dramatically as a result of the actions of this government.

We have put in place measures with respect to fire safety, which was the subject of specific questions today in question time, and they have, first of all, set a benchmark that did not exist before. Today, some 91 per cent of services in Australia have provided evidence that they meet that benchmark, and I regret that there are still nine per cent that do not. But I think it is quite wrong to suggest that it is impossible for members of this parliament to understand what is going on with that other nine per cent. As the Minister for Ageing said today in question time, those homes which have not yet met that standard have provided time frames for building works in which, they say, they will meet that standard. Of 110 homes around Australia that were identified for potential review under section 39.4 of the Aged Care Act, 59 have been assessed and provided with a detailed report on the required fire safety improvements.

As I said, there will always be cases where those standards are not met because people simply do not have the wherewithal, or the conviction or commitment, to make sure that their homes meet particular standards, but the point is that the trend is very clearly and very convincingly towards meeting those standards. There is no question about that. The situation has improved dramatically, and I believe that the government and particularly the minister should be given credit for that. Getting people information is what that website is all about. It provides people with up-to-date information on what is happening in their own region.

Senator Moore is calling for more aged-care beds. We can always do with more beds. I suspect you could double the number of beds in Australia—as indeed this government effectively has—and still find that there was a shortage of beds in some areas and in some categories of care. But again, looking at where we have come from, we can see a huge improvement, and that is the message which will come out of this debate today. There is still some way to go. But if I were a person needing an aged-care facility, I would rather be in an aged-care facility today than 10 years ago, when standards were obviously far inferior to what they are today.