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

by leave—I move opposition amendments (3) and (4) on sheet 5216 together:

(3)    Schedule 2, item 2, page 15 (line 26), after “reportable assault”, insert “or any other form of abuse”.

(4)    Schedule 2, item 2, page 15 (after line 28), after subclause 96-8(1), insert:

        (2)    For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d), any other form of abuse may include, but is not limited to, the following:

             (a)    physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or financial abuse; or

             (b)    neglect.

Minister, on Lateline in February 2006 there was a story—it was part of a series—about an aged-care worker who was unnamed and would not be identified; and I think that tells us something. This worker, who was unnamed and would not be identified, said:

In the facility, in this particular facility, it was starting to happen before I left more and more and you feel you have—you can’t do anything. You have no recourse to say anything. Because if you do say anything, you are then bullied by management, from right up, the head office right the way down. You have no recourse. There is nowhere—you put in reports and say that this is happening. Nothing is ever done. It disappears never to be seen again.

That is the culture that this amendment is trying to overcome so that all people who witness things—whether they be friends, relatives, staff, associates or advocates of residents in aged care—will feel comforted and supported by a culture of protection for the sharing of information. In some facilities in Australia we do not have that. We need to encourage that. That is why we have moved these amendments: so that all people know that they are protected in sharing information that they believe is inappropriate.

We do hear stories of retribution in aged care. We have to develop a culture that militates against that. We want to be sure that all forms of abuse are able to be reported, not just sexual and physical abuse. They are horrific but they are a small part of the extent of the abuse that occurs. That is in the literature. We understand that. We should be encouraging the reporting of all forms of abuse—from neglect and wilful hurt to psychological abuse. During that series of Lateline stories we heard the story of a facility where people were squirting water pistols in the faces of older people who were in wheelchairs. That is offensive to everybody. If somebody witnesses that—a friend—then they should feel protected enough to report that. But the legislation as it stands does not allow that. By accommodating this very straightforward amendment, we are simply affording whistleblower protection on all sorts of abuse that may occur, not just the very serious forms of sexual and physical abuse.

The minister said earlier when we were debating the Democrat amendment that it does not stop anyone reporting. I am sorry, Minister, but it does. If people do not feel protected—if they feel that Mum might get kicked out if they complain too much—then they will not report. Unfortunately that is the situation that we are in. The minister said you can report any type of abuse. Well, you cannot do that without retribution in some places. That is what we are trying to militate against. We talked earlier about the question of anonymity and how it does not apply to advocate organisations.

The issue that the minister raised about private citizens and family members potentially abusing members of residential aged care I really think is not intended to be part of the scope of this. This is about neglect and abuse within an aged-care facility by anyone associated with that facility. If someone witnesses the abuse of another person in a facility, there is nothing to stop them reporting that; but there is limited action that a facility could take. So that is not the intent of this. This is so that abusive behaviours and neglectful behaviours, especially intentionally neglectful behaviours, can be reported without retribution for all sorts of people who wish to report. It is not difficult; it is not hard. It is only fair to older people that we ensure that everybody who wants to tell their story about something that they have seen can feel protected in doing so.