Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I thank the member for McPherson for her contribution to the debate and her support of the Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008. This is indeed a very important bill that enables implementation of changes to the Aged Care Act 1997. It is particularly important, given the ageing population, the increasing demand for residential aged-care services and the need to ensure that the residential care provided to our elderly is and continues to be of the highest possible standard. As has been noted, the proposed amendments to the Aged Care Act 1997 simplify and make fairer the fees and charges paid by residents as well as the accommodation supplements paid by the government for residents who cannot fully meet their own accommodation costs.

Most importantly, the bill removes existing inconsistencies between and inequities in the treatment of pensioners and self-funded retirees. The changes ensure that all people will be treated alike, whether it be for the purpose of assessing a person’s contribution to their accommodation costs or a person’s contribution to their care costs. The amendments will also enable the phasing in of higher levels of government accommodation subsidies, and this will improve the revenue stream available to aged-care providers to support their continued investment in high-level care. Also, important resident safeguards that have been an integral part of the financing system for aged care will continue. These will be supplemented by additional protections to ensure the proposed changes do not adversely affect any existing residents. Chief among these safeguards is that a resident’s accommodation charge will not be increased for the entire time that a resident remains in continuous care. The maximum charge will continue to be determined based upon assessable assets at the time of entry to care and will remain fixed. Even if a resident transfers between homes within 28 days, the maximum level of their charge in the new home will be capped at the level of the charge they paid to the first aged-care home.

In the lead-up to the implementation of the changes on 20 March 2008, the Department of Health and Ageing will be working closely with care recipients, their families and aged-care providers. This is critical to ensure a smooth transition to the new system and to ensure that care recipients, their families and providers are aware of the changes in their rights and responsibilities under the legislation. The Department of Health and Ageing will be issuing detailed information about the changes and of course anyone with any queries can also directly contact the aged-care information hotline on 1800500853.

Certainly, when it comes to aged care and aged-care services, we saw 11 years of neglect and underinvestment by the Howard government. Under the Howard government, we saw major problems in relation to bed shortages and we saw waiting times for care lengthen. Indeed, we now have fewer beds per capita than we had in 1996. In that time we also saw a huge turnover of ministers for ageing; indeed, it was a bit of a revolving door, with seven ministers in 11 years. As I have said, there was a massive underinvestment in aged care. The Howard government’s bed allocation system did not reflect the needs of older Australians and it did not ensure that areas with the greatest shortage were able to provide aged care. The Rudd Labor government is very concerned and wants to make sure that older Australians receive appropriate care for their needs.

Elderly people have every right to receive hospital care in the same way as any other Australian, but the Howard government presided over such a serious decline in aged-care beds that frail older people did not receive appropriate care for their needs and ended up inappropriately accommodated in hospitals. Indeed, as I have said, under the Howard government, aged-care bed shortages across Australia worsened and waiting times for care lengthened.

The Caring for our health? report by state and territory health ministers, which was released in June 2007, stated that in August 2006 there were about 2,300 older people in public hospitals who should have been in an aged-care facility. The average cost of a hospital bed to the states and territories is about $1,120 a day, while the average cost of an aged-care bed to the Commonwealth is about $100 a day. This means that, in a single year, it costs $937 million to accommodate 2,300 frail older people in hospital on any one night but it would cost only $83 million to provide more appropriate aged-care services. So this is, indeed, a cost shift to the state health system of $854 million. Of course, if frail older people are not receiving appropriate care services, it means that much-needed hospital beds are unavailable to Australians of all ages waiting for surgery or medical treatment. Under the Howard government, the aged-care sector also faced increasing difficulty in attracting and retaining nurses and care staff.

In contrast, the Rudd Labor government, to meet the challenges of the 21st century, is committed to building a modern Australia. Of course, one of those major challenges is the ageing of our population. The federal government will tackle issues affecting the ageing of the population through action—in particular, also working with the states—to get that outcome. The government will make reforming the transition from hospital to aged care a priority for those older Australians who need care services. The government has committed to provide up to 2,000 transition care beds and up to 2,500 aged-care beds. The government has also pledged to provide $300 million in zero-interest loans to construct and extend residential aged care in areas of need. Also, reform of the existing aged-care planning and allocation arrangements will be undertaken to ensure that the time between the allocation of new places and their becoming operational is reduced to a minimum.

To tackle the nursing workforce shortage, the government has announced the establishment of a program to bring nurses back into the hospital and aged-care workforce. The Commonwealth will increase the number of qualified nurses in aged-care services by providing a cash bonus of $6,000 each for up to 1,000 nurses who return to work in the aged-care sector after at least a 12-month absence. An additional $1,000 will be provided to aged-care providers for each eligible nurse they employ; this will assist with the cost of retraining and reskilling each nurse. The number of training places for personal care workers is also being increased with an additional 450,000 vocational education and training places.

It is an absolute honour and privilege to be the Minister for Ageing. Since being appointed, it has been my privilege to attend, as part of my official duties, such places as St Bartholomew’s House in Perth, which is a $25 million joint funding project with the Western Australian government for a new facility for elderly disadvantaged men. It was also wonderful to attend Southern Cross Care in Darwin to announce a $6.5 million plan for a new aged-care home for disadvantaged Australians; in Adelaide to announce 375 new bed licences for South Australia; in Melbourne to announce 60 new beds for eastern Melbourne; and in the Southern Highlands, where I had the pleasure of attending the opening of stage 1 of a 90-bed extension at Warrigal Care’s Bundanoon facility.

I look forward to continuing to work closely with residents, their families and the aged-care sector to ensure that our seniors get the care and services they need and deserve. In closing, I reiterate my thanks to the member for McPherson, who contributed to the debate on this bill, for her support. As has been recognised, this bill is necessary for the reform of aged-care financing and for ensuring that the system not only supports increasing demand but does so in a manner that is indeed equitable and sustainable for our ageing population.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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