Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak on the Turnbull government's complete lack of regard for the ageing and the aged care portfolio. Earlier this year, on 2017 February, we welcomed changes to the way aged care home care packages are delivered. These changes are a direct result of Labor's 2012 Living Longer Living Better reforms, and allow older Australians to choose and change their home care provider. Thanks to the hard work of the Labor government when Mark Butler was the minister, for the first time ever older Australians are the ones who drive their care, which is a fantastic initiative.

Labor did the heavy lifting and all the Turnbull government had to do was oversee the implementation. But this out-of-touch Liberal government has dropped the ball every which way you look at this issue. They have failed to be able to deliver on the reforms that they, in opposition, worked with and the sector worked with. Unfortunately, the concerns that are in the community now reflect the very poor implementation of the home care changes made under this government.

When I say 'poor implementation', I'm referring to all of the people who have been kept in the dark for nearly six months about when they might get their home care package or where they are on the national queue. My office, and many of my colleagues' offices, are receiving calls every week from people who are distressed and frustrated because they are unable to find out where they are on the national queue, or when they might receive their home care package. During budget estimates in May, the department's officials said that details about the wait times for the national queue for home care packages would be released at the end of July. 'At the end of June we will have the data that we will release at the end of July.' That was a direct quote from Fiona Buffinton from the Department of Health on 30 May this year.

Well, that deadline, like so many others, has been and gone. We're in the second week of August now, and we have heard nothing from the Turnbull government about when this information will be made available. What are these poor people who are being left in limbo supposed to do? This whole winter break they have been waiting to see the details about waiting times and the national queue, because department officials said they'd have the information by the end of July. But we have seen nothing. The only mention of the wait times since Senate estimates was hidden in fine print of a public discussion paper released on 13 July, where the government changed their tune and said, 'The department expects to publish wait times in the second half of 2017.' They changed their tune because they know they have dropped the ball and need some breathing space.

What I and the rest of Australia want to know is what the second half of 2017 really means. The Liberals have been giving the sector and vulnerable older Australians the run-around since the changes to the home care packages began on 27 February this year. Those opposite have had an absolutely shameful record when it comes to ageing and aged care. This is just not good enough. While the government sits on its hands and twiddles its thumbs there are real people in the community being admitted to hospital and permanent residential care and, in more harrowing cases, passing away while they wait to hear about the status of their home care packages.

I'd like to share some of the stories we are hearing to show everyone just how dire this situation has become under the watch of this mediocre government. Mrs B is 89 and was assessed at the end of 2016 for a Level 4 package. Her daughter has been trying to find out when her frail mother will be able to get a package. She calls the infamous My Aged Care hotline each week, searching for answers, and has become very distressed after constantly being told, 'No, we can't tell you anything about when these packages will be available,' and, 'No, there is no-one else you can talk to about this.' This has gone on for far too long. There are plenty of other examples like this. People are being told sometimes more than three different versions of what may or may not be happening, and each time they call My Aged Care to try and find answers the result is always the same. There's another case of Mr W. He is an in-patient in a hospital and is unable to be discharged without having home care services in place. Mr W has very high care needs and has no family that live locally to support him. There is a chance that he will be placed into permanent residential care because he cannot access a home care package.

We mustn't forget all the calls we're getting from sons and daughters and other relatives who have had to quit their jobs to become full-time carers because their parents cannot access their home care packages. Then there are the countless cases of people like Mrs T, who has been approved for a level 4 home care package, who are only able to access a level 1 or 2 package. These people have been queued for more than 432 days with no idea where they are in the queue or when they will finally have access to the higher level of care they need and deserve. Their health is deteriorating while they wait for adequate care, which is not only dangerous for the client and carers, but also extremely stressful for their families whose lives are being put on hold while they wait for a package that may never come. We need action now. What we don't need is the government's attention only when ageing or an aged-care issue reaches the media. Now is the time that we need to take the action. It's simply not acceptable to say nothing at all. We need transparency and we need it now. Older Australians and their families deserve better, Mr Turnbull. They helped make our nation what it is today, and they deserve to know that the care and support they need in their old age will be there.

The Liberal government, as we have witnessed in media reports and around this place, are dysfunctional, and, quite frankly, they are out of touch. They're putting at risk is the health and welfare of older Australians. The contrast between Labor and the Liberals when it comes to ageing and aged care could not be any starker. Labor did the heavy lifting when in government. They led the debate. They led the development of the policy. They worked with the opposition at the time and, importantly, with the sector, to bring about the reforms of Living Longer Living Better. When the Abbott government was elected, they put no priority on ageing. Mr Turnbull then took over from Mr Abbott, and, once again, we saw no action. They were re-elected last year, and we have seen nothing that has led me—or, more importantly, the Australian community—to believe or have faith that this government understand the issues that older Australians are facing on a daily basis.

Just last week our leader, Bill Shorten, was on national television talking about the treatment of older Australians. He said, 'We need to do a lot better', and, 'it shouldn't necessarily have to wait until the next election' to make things better. Mr Shorten said on national television that he was willing to sit down with Mr Turnbull and work through the matters—something Labor has always said to those opposite. In stark contrast, I don't think I've ever heard the Prime Minister mentioning ageing, aged care or dementia. In 2015, he forgot to appoint a minister for ageing and aged care to his cabinet, and then, earlier this year, he relegated the responsibilities to the outer ministry. This is how much the Turnbull Liberal government value older people and their care. Really, it's quite shameful. I think, if I was a member of that government, I would be very embarrassed. They told us that they would have information on the waiting lists and the national queue for home care packages in June and that they would release this information by the end of July. I am calling on the government, and particularly those in the government who have an interest in the ageing area—and I know there are some—to call on the minister, and the Prime Minister, to give a higher priority to ageing issues in this country and to release this information so that Australians can get the care that they rightly deserve.