Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, I would like to pass on my congratulations to you on your election to the role of Deputy Speaker in the House. And through you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would also like to congratulate the member for Richmond on her appointment as Minister for Ageing. The Minister for Ageing and I actually share a common border. We have adjoining electorates. I think our new roles are very appropriate in that we represent many constituents who are older Australians. I wish her well in her new role.

The bill before the House today was in fact introduced by the former Minister for Ageing under the coalition government. The bill lapsed with the proroguing of the parliament for the general election in November. Early in 2007, the then coalition government announced a $1.6 billion package of reforms, known as Securing the Future of Aged Care for Australians. It was aimed at creating a fairer system to finance aged care, provide greater access to capital funding in high care and continue to grow and develop care for people in their own homes. The Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008 provides the framework necessary to implement the financial aspects of those significant reforms.

There is no doubt that Australia’s population is changing, with an increase in the number of older Australians who need help and support from the government. These older Australians need to be assured that they can age with dignity, supported by the appropriate services to assist them, whether that be at home or in an aged-care facility. My own electorate of McPherson on the Gold Coast is a great example of an older age profile. More than 22,000 of my constituents are aged over 65, and there are 15 aged-care facilities in the electorate, with four more aged-care facilities in the pipeline. Supporting those aged-care facilities are many services that assist and help people to age with dignity in their own homes.

The 2004 report by Professor Warren Hogan highlighted the need to improve funding of our aged-care system, and the former coalition government responded to that report with a $1.6 billion package of reforms. The bill before the House today amends the Aged Care Act 1997 to simplify and make fairer the fees and charges paid by residents of aged-care facilities, as well as the subsidies paid by the Commonwealth government for residents who cannot fully meet their own care and accommodation costs. The bill better targets both the asset test that determines the level of accommodation fees required from residents and the aged-care income test. For example, self-funded retirees currently pay higher income tested fees because nearly all of their income is counted under the income test. However, pension income is currently not counted under the income test. This clearly disadvantages self-funded retirees compared to part-pensioners of similar means.

The new income test treats all people in the same way and all income the same, irrespective of whether it is a pension or a private income. The new arrangements will also combine and better target the current concessional resident supplement and the pensioner supplement into a single asset tested accommodation supplement. The maximum level of the new accommodation supplement will also be increased through principles and determinations which will be made under the amended legislation. Self-funded retiree residents with few assets will become eligible for accommodation assistance for the first time from the Commonwealth government. This new income tested fee will apply to new and existing residents. However, it should be noted that fees for existing residents will not increase as a result of this measure but may in fact reduce for some residents.

The bill also broadens the eligibility for community care grants for providers of community aged-care packages and extends eligibility to providers of the flexible care types, Extended Aged Care at Home and Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia. That means that new and existing community care recipients will benefit from this measure through better assurance of quality care in the community. Recipients will also have more information about their service choices and complaints processes. Service providers will be assisted by the development of mechanisms to improve the quality of service provision and the identification of best practice approaches. The bill also extends the application of the aged-care legislation to include the territory of Christmas Island and the territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

The bill before us today also makes technical amendments to improve consistency and clarity within the legislation, addresses unintended consequences of the operation of the legislation and streamlines the administration of the legislation. These minor technical changes complement the changes I have described above.

It is proposed, with the agreement of the parliament, that the new arrangements will take effect from 20 March 2008. The opposition offers bipartisan support for the bill and commends the government for not cutting funds to implement these important initiatives that were first flagged by the previous coalition government. There is no doubt that older Australians, those very special people who have helped build the strong nation we have today, need confidence in our aged-care systems. They need to know that there is security for the future in the delivery of first-class services and aged-care facilities. I commend the bill to the House.

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