Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

That is right; you did too. But that was prior to this model being developed, and we believe there is some significant detail in the submission which should be considered, particularly if this issue is to go before the COAG conference.

There is one other issue I would like to address, which is from time to time described to me as ‘double dipping’ by aged care homes. I do not mean that in a derogatory sense. Aged care homes are expensive operations to run. I am sure that from time to time some members of parliament have had aged parents go through the aged care assessment process—I believe that assessment is open for 12 months—be admitted to an aged care facility as a low-care patient and, within weeks of admittance, be reassessed as a high-care patient. Being admitted as a low-care patient allows the accommodation bond to be formulated and charged, and reassessment as a high-care patient allows a degree of double dipping. That area needs to be revisited in terms of the way that is happening.

I ask the parliamentary secretary to look at the way the aged care assessment teams are doing their assessments and the occasions on which the change in the assessment from low care to high care takes place very quickly and allows the homes to access funding additional to the accommodation bond. It seems to be a problem that is developing. I am hearing anecdotal evidence—I am searching for proof at the moment—that there may be instances where the community care people are removing their services from people who have essentially been assessed as low-care patients so that they are pushed towards admittance to aged care facilities and then, once admitted, reassessed as high-care patients, which allows this double dipping to occur. I ask the parliamentary secretary to take that on board.

I will be supporting the legislation. I ask that at the COAG conference these young people who are inappropriately housed in nursing homes be given due consideration and that we do not develop a model in which country people miss out because the scale of the operation makes it uneconomic. In terms of the MPS process that I mentioned earlier, the government has been a partner with the state governments to construct a model which is not only cost-effective but which delivers services to country people. I ask the Prime Minister to follow through on his commitment on young people in nursing homes and bite the bullet on this issue. The real measure of a society is how we treat our elderly and those who are afflicted by disabilities through no fault of their own. Given the nation’s economic circumstances, this is the time when we should bite the bullet for those young people who need extra care.

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