Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. Yesterday, the government announced 10,000 additional aged-care home packages. Aged and Community Services Australia said that the announcement 'will not even touch the sides of demand'. How does the minister plan to deliver care to the remaining 110,000 older Australians who are still waiting for home care packages which have already been approved?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Keneally for the question. Senator Keneally is correct: yesterday, we announced a $537 million package to add additional capacity to the aged-care sector. Part of that package was an extra 10,000 home care packages, which add to the capacity that this government has continually added to the system since we came to government. When we came to government there were 60,000 home care packages in the system. As a result of the announcement that we made yesterday there will be 150,000 home care packages in the system this year as part of the growth of the sector.

As the royal commission noted, the demand for the home care program has continued to grow with supply. As the royal commission said, it's not just a matter of injecting a massive number of new home care packages into the system, because there are other constraints and other issues that have to be managed. The government has quite clearly acknowledged that we're going to deal with those things. We've said that we will modify the way that Australians are assessed before they go into the aged-care system—a single, national aged-care assessment process. We've said that we will do that as part of our reforms of the aged-care system. We've also said that we'll bring together home care and CHSP into one broader package which provides additional capacity and also assists people in ensuring they get care. The government has acknowledged there is still more work to do. But I'm not going to be lectured to by the Labor Party, which at the last election added $387 billion worth of taxes and did not put one single home care package on the table.

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How does the minister respond to Leading Age Services Australia, who say the government's announcement to fund an extra 10,000 home care packages is 'a missed opportunity' which will disappoint the remaining 110,000 elderly Australians on the waitlist in the lead-up to Christmas'?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I shall say to Leading Age Services Australia, as I have done on the phone in conversation, exactly what I've just said to the chamber: we will work our way through this process in a methodical manner. We're not going to do what the Labor Party did when they were in government, creating a circumstance with pink bats which ended up unfortunately killing people; we're going to—

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The point of order goes to direct relevance. This is a serious topic. You made some rulings yesterday in relation to Senator Ruston's answers.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, so pink batts isn't serious?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, people dying whilst waiting for approved packages is pretty serious, and he ought to answer the question rather than play politics.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And people died because of pink batts.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll take the interjection from Senator Abetz. Sixteen thousand Australians died waiting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Interjections and responses to them are inappropriate—particularly, I might say, during points of order. On the ruling I made yesterday, I'm not going to interrupt a minister halfway through a sentence. The minister was asked how he responded to a series of claims. I was listening carefully to his answer. I believe he was being directly relevant and, while a glancing comment may be in order, I do consider that a tightly worded question, as was the case yesterday, did preclude discussion of opposition policy. I'm not willing to necessarily make that ruling now, because I don't believe the minister has gone there at this point. He was halfway through a sentence.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. The government will do as it said when the royal commission was announced, when the draft report was released a couple of weeks ago and in our press conference yesterday. We said that we will methodically work through all of the issues that we need to deal with as part of this process. As I've said a number of times, we have increased the capacity of the home care sector from 60,000 places when we came government to 150,000 places this year, an investment of $2.7 billion since last year's budget.

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

National Seniors Australia says the government's 10,000 extra home care packages is 'less than the number of people who died last year waiting for a package'. In 2017-18, 16,000 older Australians died waiting to receive their home care package. How many more Australians will die waiting for their approved home care package?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I was talking to Seniors Australia this morning, I outlined the process that we were going through and the issues that we're going to deal with. The suggestion that the people who unfortunately passed away while they were waiting for their aged-care package had no access to any health care at all is quite simply a false premise. All Australians have access to Australia's health system, quite appropriately. Ninety-seven per cent of those who haven't received the aged-care package that they've been allotted have access to, for example, some home care services through programs like CHSP, so they are receiving some form of care and, of course, they have access to the Australian healthcare system: hospitals, GPs and all of the other facilities that go along with that.

David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. Building on the government's response to the royal commission into aged care's interim report, can the minister please advise the Senate about the amendments to the Quality of Care Principles 2014, Regulation of Restraint in Residential Aged Care Facilities, which have been tabled in the Senate today, to further minimise the use of restraint in aged care?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Van, for the question. The government believe that the health, safety and wellbeing of older Australians who reside in aged-care services is of paramount importance and that the use of restraint should always be the last resort. On 1 July 2019, the government delivered new regulations that put explicit obligations on residential aged-care providers with respect to the use of restraints. We've already taken action to minimise the use of physical and chemical restraints in aged-care homes. Regulations that came into place on 1 July put explicit obligations on those providers. These regulatory changes require providers to satisfy a number of conditions before restraint can be used, including assessment by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who has prescribed the medication or medical restraint. Further, where restraint is used, providers must monitor the consumer for signs of distress or harm.

Today we're strengthening those regulations relating to chemical restraints. These changes will do a number of things. They will make it clear that restraint must always be the last resort. They will clarify state and territory legislative responsibility for prescribers to gain informed consent on restraint. Because we acknowledge that there are some concerns around the regulations and that the regulations need to be at the leading edge, we've put in place a review process that will start on 1 July next year, running through until the end of December next year, with a sunset clause on the regulations which will allow for any reforms that come out of the review process, including the recommendations of the royal commission, to be incorporated into new regulations.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Van, a supplementary question?

David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What else has the government done to minimise the use of restraints in aged care?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As part of our announcement yesterday, the Minister for Health made a number of announcements with respect to the prescription of psychotropics—risperidone being the key one—and also antipsychotics. From 1 January, off the back of recommendations of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, prescriptions for risperidone will be restricted and doctors will be required to apply for additional approvals if risperidone is to be prescribed beyond the initial 12 weeks. We've also put an additional $10 million into dementia management and training capacity. That adds to the $37 million that's been spent this year for those programs. So, from $37 million this year, it will go to $45 million in 2019-20.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Van, a final supplementary question?

David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister please outline the government's record on aged-care funding?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government is continuing to deliver record investment in the aged-care sector across the forward estimates—from $13.3 billion in 2012-13 under Labor to $21.7 billion in 2019-20 to an estimated $25.4 billion in 2022-23. That's, on average, $1 billion of extra support for older Australians each year.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Don't leave out the cuts!

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Watt!

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Not even the ABC believes you, Senator Watt. Under Labor, home-care packages sat at about 60,000 per annum. This year, 2018-19, they were at 125,000 and by 2022-23 they will be at 157,608. (Time expired)