Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) | Hansard source

I thank Senator Canavan for the question, and I would start by saying the government doesn't apologise for being ambitious for aged care and for increasing staffing levels to improve the care of older Australians. It's been very clear for some time that one of the issues facing aged care was the lack of access to clinical expertise throughout the day, and the provision of 24/7 nurses is one of the ways that we can improve care for older Australians who are living in residential aged care. This, of course, has been supported by large parts, almost the entirety, of the aged-care sector, which agrees that this is a sensible and much needed reform.

There has been a sensible exemption arrangement put in place to allow for residential aged-care facilities to transition to the new arrangements. I know that the aged-care minister has been dealing with the sector and talking about the implementation of it, and it is a sensible arrangement to acknowledge that there will be areas where that nursing requirement won't be able to be reached in the first instance. I will come back to the Senate if I am getting this number wrong, but I understand that so far 55 homes have applied for an exemption, and I think that relates to homes under 30 beds in MMM 5 to 7 areas to allow them the time to transition to these new arrangements.

In relation to the closures, I will see if there is anything further I can come back to the Senate on. There have been a number of closures. My understanding is that, when you look back over time, there have been closures of aged-care facilities not necessarily linked to the 24/7 nursing care arrangements.