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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I rise to speak on the 2018-19 report on the operation of the Aged CareAct 1997. The forward by the Minister for Aged Care reads:

The past year has been a challenging time for aged care in Australia as a spotlight has been turned on those parts of the system that have failed some of the most vulnerable older Australians. The establishment of a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is a vital step in identifying opportunities, and understanding how to meet the challenges to deliver world-class aged care services now, and into the future.

But the reality is that the aged care royal commission was called by this government to look into its own failings when it comes to aged care.

As usual, those opposite come into this place and try and blame the opposition for when we were last in government. But the Australian people, and those people who work in the aged-care sector, fully understand that the Living Longer Living Better framework was introduced by the Labor government in cooperation with those that were opposite at that time. What we have seen since this government has come to power is the aged-care sector being used as an ATM. That's what they've done. When the Prime Minister was Treasurer of this country, he gutted the aged-care sector by over $1 billion. Taking that money out of the aged-care sector has left it bereft of the resources that it needs to ensure that we have a safe, caring aged-care sector in this country.

The royal commission is a good thing, as it turns out. It has not only put the media spotlight on the aged-care sector, but Australians in general are also looking at it. We know there are some good things that the government have announced in very recent times—in relation to chemical restraints and moving young people out of the aged-care sector. But the reality is that it's a fundamental right of all Australians as they age to get the support that they need.

Recently the government announced, in relation to the interim report of the aged care royal commission, that they would make 10,000 additional home care packages available. The reality is that that is a drop in the ocean. That is what the sector themselves are telling this government. We know that currently there is in excess of 120,000 older Australians who have been assessed as needing an aged-care package from levels 1 to 4. Obviously, a level 4 package is one that is needed to give the security and services that enable that individual to live at home with support. That's what Australians want.

But what we have seen from the government in their response to the royal commission—which they called themselves, after 16 reports about the failings of the aged-care sector—is failure at the first hurdle to put some real, genuine money into the sector. So what we've got is 10,000 new home care packages. But we had to ask the government this week about a 95-year-old lady who has been told she will have to wait up to 22 months before she will get the package that she has been assessed for. We know that more than 16,000 older Australians have died after they were assessed for their level of aged-care home care package. That might be one way those people opposite want to meet their budget, but it's certainly not what we on this side of the chamber believe older Australians should have to deal with.

When someone is assessed for a home care package, they need to have that support. One of the responses from this government has been: 'Oh, aren't enough carers. There aren't enough workers in the aged-care sector.' It was this government, when it came into government, that cut the workforce subsidy that was put in place by the former Labor government. Over the last 6½ years, these people have said the workforce is not the federal government's responsibility. If you fund aged care in this country then the workforce is your responsibility. It's your responsibility to show the leadership, to ensure we have best practice and the best, most highly skilled and trained people to look after the most vulnerable.

Older Australians deserve our respect because they have contributed to this country. So it's a damn shame that those opposite don't respect older Australians enough to fund the aged-care sector. (Time expired)

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak on the 2018-19 Report on the operation of the Aged Care Act 1997. This report details the operation of Australia's aged-care system during the 2018-19 financial year and it makes quite interesting reading. But even more interesting is what the report doesn't say. It quite clearly states that on 30 June 2019 there were 106,707 people receiving a home care package. This sounds all well and good—until you discover that there are 120,000 people waiting for the home care package at the support level that they've qualified for, and that 72,000 of these people are not getting any support at all. The report neglects to mention these figures at all.

The aged-care system in Australia is in complete disarray under this third-term Liberal government. They have failed time and time again to make the important structural reforms that are necessary to ensure elderly Australians receive the care that they need and deserve. We should not have had to wait for the abuses outlined in the royal commission to come to light before this government belatedly, and inadequately, responded. There were shocking abuses—each one of these a damning indictment of this government's unwillingness to give older Australians the care and dignity that they deserve. The government's response to the interim report is pitiful: just 10,000 new home care packages—when 120,000 people aren't getting the support they need—is disgraceful. That's only about eight per cent of what is needed. It's just a drop in the ocean. What about the other 110,000 older Australians who are still waiting for care, their families and their loved ones—what do they do in the meantime?

The government's own Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has said that not funding the home care of 100,000-plus older Australians waiting for care is neglect. There's also damning new evidence that's revealed the Morrison government received advice from the Department of Health eight months ago on how to fund more care packages but simply didn't care enough to do anything about it. The answers in Senate estimates showed that this advice was part of the budget process. The Morrison government's excuses for why it hasn't funded more home care packages, in response to the scathing interim report of the aged-care royal commission, don't stack up. The extra $500 million they've committed to spend is less than three per cent of the government's $19.9 billion expenditure on aged care, with 120,000 people not getting the level of care they need, compared to 106,707 getting some support but not necessarily all the support they need. This additional less than three per cent to the sector will have minimal impact. The home care waiting list continues to grow under this government.

According to this report, $13 billion out of the $19.9 billion figure I mentioned earlier is spent on residential care. It's the most expensive part of the system. It is much more expensive than allowing people, through home care packages, to receive the support that they need to stay in their own homes, which is why it's absolutely astounding that the government refuses to properly fund home care packages. Data from 2018 showed that 13,000 older Australians entered a residential care facility that year simply because they could not receive the support they needed at home. In fact, 16,000 older Australians died in just one year while waiting for their home care packages. It's disappointing that these kinds of figures are not highlighted in the report that we're discussing today, but it's part of a pattern by this government to avoid accountability.

The government cannot keep avoiding responsibility for their failures in aged care, because their failures are, in large part, born out of the decisions that they have made while in government. The Australian people have become aware of the level of incompetence and mismanagement that this government have overseen, and that in itself reflects so badly on this government. Now, they quite often—in fact, every day—want to blame the Labor Party for everything. But they are a third-term government. They have been in power for six years. It's like a little kid saying, 'Six months ago, Johnny broke my train, so I'm going to wreck his car.' Seriously, people, you need to grow up, be accountable, take responsibility. Let people in aged care live with some dignity and receive the care that they need. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.