Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I think the minister is conflating the desire of the sector to defer the start of the Aged Care Act with the delay in the rollout of aged-care packages, because the minister has referred to both Ageing Australia and UnitingCare. I was at the hearing on Friday, and both Ageing Australia and UnitingCare said they supported the delay in the commencement of the act. They did not support a delay of release of home-care packages. And, across the board, the sector said that they are ready to roll them out.

The minister has said that they are preparing for a significant influx of people on home-care packages on 1 November. Well, I put to you, Minister, that you wouldn't have as big an influx on 1 November if you continued to roll them out from 1 July until then.

Five thousand people died, in the last 12 months, waiting for a home-care package. Is the government seriously saying that they're prepared to watch more people die than is necessary in that four-month period, over systems? Is that genuinely what you are saying to older Australians out there and to their families—the over 200,000 of them? We've had to work hard to get those numbers out of the government. And is it any wonder that you didn't want to give them to us? Are you seriously saying to them, 'Because we want to change the system, you lot can wait for months'?

We heard clearly on Friday that eight weeks is a massively long wait for an older person, and that having to wait three or four months or longer is catastrophic. You had senators get up here, in their speeches on the second reading, saying that the royal commission report was titled Neglect and we shouldn't be neglecting older people. Well, what is more neglectful than stopping rolling out home-care packages for four months?

Senator Ananda-Rajah said that lives were hanging on the balance. You bet they are! And yet, for four months, you are not rolling out any additional care. Those 200,000 that you keep talking about—those aren't new packages; those are packages that are being reallocated when people go into residential aged care or they die. Senator Ananda-Rajah talked about the large influx of older people into hospitals. Well, of course they're going into hospital, because they're not getting the care that they need at home. She talked about carer stress and the disproportionate amount of care that is falling on women in particular. Well, we could reduce that carer stress if the government invested in sufficient home-care packages so that people could actually get the care that they need at the time that they need it.

The royal commission said: 'Stop rationing care.' Not only are you rationing it still, you're refusing to roll it out! Talk about neglect!

Providers have told us that they can manage this. Senator Ananda-Rajah talked about the wage rises that Labor has rightly given aged-care workers and that have stemmed the egress from the system. It's working, and the sector is saying that they have the workforce to provide additional care. So why on earth would the government stop rolling out additional care for four months? Labor senators said, 'The government is trying to fulfill the wishes of older Australians to stay at home.' My questions to you then are: Why are you waiting? Why are you making 200,000 older Australians wait for care that could be rolled out now? We now know that the care that you are proposing to roll out on 1 November is going to be wholly inadequate—83,000 home-care packages for a waitlist of over 200,000. We've see no modelling on how you're going to reach that target. We've seen no modelling on how you're going to get to three months. Given the level of refusal to give information today unless figures are actually put to the government, I'll be surprised if we get that too.

Labor senators also talked about the fact that the government doesn't want anyone to fall through the cracks. I'd say 200,000 people waiting for care is a pretty big crack. Again, I ask the government: why won't you act to close that gap by rolling out new home-care packages now? Labor senators in their contributions in the second reading debate also talked about how care needs to be timely, that people need quicker access. If you are asking 200,000 people to wait an additional four months before you will roll out any new home-care packages, how on earth is that timely or quick?

Minister, my questions to you and the government are: What do you have to say to the 200,000 or more Australians who are desperately waiting for the care that they need for themselves, older parent or grandparent? What do you say to them as to why you are making them wait four months without any additional release of home-care packages?