Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

With respect, Senator Wortley was not listening to the answer. We have an accreditation agency, a complaints resolution scheme, a department, and shortly we will be introducing whistleblower protection legislation so that people do report the rare instances of neglect and abuse. I again remind Senator Wortley and the Senate that close to 170,000 ageing Australians are in full-time care in over 3,000 facilities. No government, no opposition and nobody else involved in the aged-care industry of Australia can give a rock-solid guarantee that not one resident over 365 days of the year will suffer some mishap. No-one can guarantee that, but to have that scurrilous headline psychologically damaging our ageing Australians is a very sad indictment.