Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 and Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025. There are over 3 million Australians currently over the age of 70, and it's crucial that we get the policy settings right in the aged care space.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which released its final report in March 2021, shocked Australians to their core. It shocked them because of the failings of the Liberal government over almost 11 years of neglect. So to have the opposition now lecture us about aged care—you had five failed aged-care ministers because not one of them had any interest in aged care. For you to come in here and try to rewrite history, with your record on aged care—I mean, it's beyond belief that you would have the gall to come in here and mislead the Australian people. I remember only too well that the Liberal-National coalition government at that time called the royal commission into your own failings. That's the reality. It wasn't anyone else. It was the Liberals calling for a royal commission into their own failings because they had no idea, they did not have a competent minister and they didn't know how to regulate and reform the aged care sector.

The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 will make technical, transitional and consequential changes to support the commencement of the Aged Care Act 2024. The first recommendation of the royal commission was the development of a new aged-care act to put the rights of older people at the very centre of their care. The Albanese Labor government is ensuring that this is implemented and will be transformative for the sector and for senior Australians. I acknowledge tonight the contribution over a very long period of time of Minister Butler and Minister Wells in their work in this portfolio—and also, I might add, Shayne Neumann, a former shadow minister for aged care. I acknowledge the new Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Minister Rae. He recognises the work that has been achieved and knows there is still much more we can do as a government to improve the sector. I think we can all agree that, regardless of the failings of the past, we must all work together for the wellbeing and dignity of senior Australians.

The Aged Care Act 2024, which commences on 1 November 2025, replaces the Aged Care Act 1997. It will deliver on its recommendation and establish a new rights based framework for the delivery of aged care in Australia. This new legal framework builds on Labor's achievements in the last term of government, including 24/7 nursing in aged-care homes, with a registered nurse on site in aged care more than 99 per cent of the time; mandatory care minutes, with an additional 6.8 million minutes of care provided every single day; and a $17.7 billion investment in higher wages for aged-care workers. Where were the opposition over the 11 years we were crying out for people to work in aged care? They were nowhere to be seen because they didn't care. They didn't respect, and they still don't respect, those people who work in aged care, looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

Mandatory care minutes, with an additional 6.8 million minutes of care provided every single day, make a huge difference to those older Australians. Around 306,000 people are assessed as needing a home-care package today compared to fewer than 200,000 people five years ago. They're the figures; they don't lie. The new act puts the dignity of older Australians first and foremost with a statement of rights underpinned by Australia's obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

As a former shadow assistant minister for aged care, I understand how important it is that we get this generational reform right because it will serve Australians for years to come. As Minister Rae has stated, this is why the Albanese Labor government chose to defer the start of the Aged Care Act 2024 and the new Support at Home care package—because we must provide more time for aged-care providers to prepare their clients, support their workforce and get the systems ready for this significant reform. Therefore, this bill will provide further support for the Albanese Labor government's ambition to transform the experience of older Australians receiving care, wherever they reside across the country.

The bill also includes amendments to the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024 and other legislation that supports the aged-care system. The bill allows for transitional change to ensure that subsidies are paid correctly to support the provisions of funded aged care to all.

Older Australians are now receiving an additional 6.8 million minutes of care every single day, 2.5 million of which are delivered by qualified, registered nurses because of our vision for this sector. I remember that the sector, older Australians around the country and their families were calling out for more registered nurses—and what did those opposite, when they were in government for almost 11 years, do? Nothing—nothing to support those working in aged care, nothing to encourage more registered nurses. Care minutes and related measures were introduced in response to recommendations of the royal commission to ensure that older people in aged-care homes receive the dedicated care time that we all know they need and deserve. This means more one-on-one time so residents receive the emotional connection they deserve.

The bill also contains amendments to support the continuation of accommodation bond arrangements, which means that a bond is paid in order for you to enter residential care and receive care in a residential setting, made under the 1997 act for people who entered care before 2008. The amendments also include a new civil penalty provision comparable to the existing accommodation payments framework under the new act. The bill also provides for greater transparency and clarity. The updated provisions will support means testing arrangements under the new framework for financial contributions.

The protection of personal information and the regulation of its use and disclosure, consistent with both Australian law and international standards, remain a key priority. Under the new act, this information is protected, and the act provides substantial penalties for misuse. Amendments will also reform the Star Ratings program. The introduction of this program has given older Australians and their loved ones more information about residential aged-care homes. But, based on public consultation and feedback, amendments will be made to better utilise compliance information in determining and publishing a registered provider's compliance with their obligations under the law.

This new bill also introduces a requirement that the Aged Care Quality Standards are reviewed every five years to ensure that the standards of care that we all expect for older Australians are regularly considered against and aligned with best practice. The bill will also make consequential changes to legislation that references the Commonwealth aged-care system. These amendments will ensure that funded aged-care services are provided in a manner consistent with other Commonwealth legislation. Amendments will ensure that existing exemptions to the application of the GST remain in place for aged-care services.

I'm very proud of what our government has implemented over the course of the last term of government and what we will now build upon. This is about nation-building reforms. This is about supporting seniors and older Australians in this country to provide them with the best care possible. For too long—well over a decade; almost 11 years—the previous government neglected older Australians. Don't think that the Australian people don't remember the terrible things that were exposed during the royal commission. I've never experienced a government that's had to call a royal commission into its own failings. It was extraordinary. They'd run out of ideas, they'd run out of ministers and they just didn't understand the system. It was Labor who, prior to that that, restarted the foundations, under Minister Mark Butler at that time. We recognised, when we started to fix it, that the system was broken. But what did those opposite do when they came in? They did absolutely nothing. They never supported a pay raise for workers in this sector, even though they knew that the demand for workers was outstripping the number who wanted to work. And we experienced, through COVID, the result of those workers being so underpaid that they had to go from aged-care home to aged-care home, which actually helped to spread COVID, and that's why so many in residential care died during that time. So, to have a former failed minister come in here and a lecture us about what we haven't done, when we lived through the experience of what he did, and his priorities—I really don't think I have to go into it. I would have thought aged care and being minister for aged care were far more important than any sporting event during COVID.

So I'm not going to stand here in my contribution and allow those opposite to try and rewrite history, because it has always been Labor that has led reform in the aged-care sector. It will always be Labor that supports those people who work in the care economy, just as we have in early childhood education. Those opposite talk a lot and they have crocodile tears, but the reality is that, when they're on the government benches, they fail to support those workers.

What we're about as a government is building up this workforce and recognising this workforce. We're actually respecting older Australians, and we want to ensure that we provide the best possible world-leading care in this sector. We will fight for that every single day. Bear in mind that we don't just have to clean up the mess in aged care that those opposite left behind. We've had to tackle inflation. We've brought down interest rates. We're supporting workers. We're addressing the cost of living. So we do have ambition, but we work with the sector, with unions and with older Australians to ensure that we provide world's best practice when it comes to aged care. That's why, in this sector, people look to Australia to see what we're doing.

I don't take any glee in reminding people of the failure of those opposite in nine years. How many was it? Five ministers who failed, and not one of them was actually interested in aged care. I don't take any glee in that, because I actually care about this sector, I care about older Australians and I care about workers. But, at the same time, I'm also not going to sit here when there's a contribution on that side trying to again rewrite history and not acknowledge their own failures. Not once has anyone on that side apologised to the Australian community for their failures—not even when people died in nursing homes unnecessarily because of the failures of that government. So, if you're going to be genuine and you want to work with us and pass this legislation, that's great, but it does not absolve you from the mess you left behind and the misfortune that too many Australians have to wait very long periods of time to get home-care packages. We don't have a magic wand. We can't fix your mess overnight.