Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand here today to also show my support for this important bill that provides improved support for carers and I want to begin by commending the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs for introducing this bill for debate. The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Improved Support for Carers) Bill 2009 provides part of the government’s response to the report of the Carer Payment (child) Review Taskforce and gives effect to a number of measures aimed at improving assistance to carers of children with a profound disability.

The carer payment (child) is an income support payment for people who provide constant care to a profoundly disabled child. It is targeted at those who cannot work due to the demands of their caring role and it is means tested. This bill will improve support for families of the children with a profound disability by providing access to carer payment based on the level of care required. This will be a more equitable process about assessing needs and about assessing the caring role rather than relying on just the medical criteria as we do now. This is a really important step forward. The bill will also ensure a person who qualifies for a carer payment will automatically qualify for a carer allowance. The bill also seeks to allow a person to qualify or remain qualified for carer payment while the child they are caring for is in hospital for an unlimited number of days per calendar year.

During the review, the task force accepted that payment of carer payment (child) is recognition that caring for a profoundly disabled child is a full-time, multiskilled, very demanding job that leaves little or no time for any other activities. In fact I want to quote from a parent who put a submission in to that review. She said:

You are constantly on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This role will continue until the child dies, or if I predecease my daughter. Most intensive parenting duties decline as the child grows and matures, [but] this is not the case for a child with a severe disability. I will have to be on call 24/7 until the day I die.

We all know that carers provide a lot of support. We know that they are spouses, parents, grandparents, children, siblings and sometimes friends and neighbours. The most recent ABS statistics estimate that 2.5 million Australians aged 15 years or over care for someone at home because of a disability. That is around 13 per cent of Australia’s population who are carers. Around half a million Australians were identified as a primary carer. That is the person who is the main provider of care to someone. In my home state of Tasmania we have significantly more carers than the rest of Australia. In fact, it is estimated there are 69,500 carers aged 15 years or older, 14,600 of which are primary carers, representing around 15 per cent of the total population of Tasmania. That is higher than the national average, as I said.

I also want to talk about a recent report. I am a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Housing, Community and Youth, which recently handed down its report titled Who cares … ? This report was about how to provide better support for carers. It included many public hearings around the country and took almost a year to complete. The committee received 1,300 submissions—1,200 of which were from individual submissions.

The lives of carers are at the heart of this report. The carers report was a human analysis, not a cost analysis, of people caring for others. It is an honest and truthful account of people’s lives. During the inquiry, we heard from many parents caring for children with multiple disabilities, requiring much care. Their stories were heartbreaking and many times in the roundtables with carers there were tears in the eyes of all those in the room. The emotion was raw and their hurt was profound. They were never asked to be a carer; all of them struggle to meet the costs of caring for their child. They are isolated by the lack of support and the financial impact of their caring role. They receive no holiday pay, no sick pay, no annual leave loading, no long service leave and no superannuation. They are frightened about the future of their children should they predecease them.

The inquiry’s body of evidence clearly illustrated the profound physical, emotional and financial effect that providing care has on carers and also their families. The amount of paperwork and assessments was one their concerns. We all know that a child born with profound disability does not get better; their care only continues. I am pleased that part of this bill addresses some of the assessments and paperwork.

Some of the other things that the committee looked at that were high on the list of what people really wanted us to deal with were things like respite care, in-home care, financial assistance and also the maze that carers get lost in as they try to access services. Obviously, if you are busy caring for somebody with a profound disability, trying to work out that maze of where you go to get things done and where you get support is time consuming and difficult. It is just an added stress that you really do not need. This report really is a starting point and an impetus for action and I really look forward to hearing our government’s response to that report.

The changes in this bill are the latest in a series of recent support initiatives that the Rudd government has already extended to carers. There was a one-off payment delivered in the 2008-09 budget of $1,000 to carer payment recipients and certain other pensioners with a caring role, and carer allowance recipients were paid $600 for each person cared for. We all know that the first stimulus package, the Economic Security Strategy, provided $1,400 to carer payment recipients and $1,000 to carer allowance recipients for each person cared for.

Even last night we had further support for carers announced in the budget, with the Treasurer announcing a significant measure to help and support Australian carers. The Treasurer last night described Australian carers as ‘the unsung heroes of our community’. In some way in the budget last night we acknowledged the financial difficulties and provided some additional support. The budget introduces a $600 a year carer supplement for all carer payment recipients, on top of the increase in their pension. Recipients of a carer allowance will also receive an additional $600 a year for each eligible person in their care. With this bill those eligible for carer payment (child) will now also receive both of these payments each and every year. I think that is fantastic support for those people who are really doing it tough.

In closing, I would like to say that this bill will mean that the number of carers caring for children with a disability entitled to this payment will rise from around 7,000 to an estimated 20,000. There are many people in my electorate of Franklin who will get support from this change in the legislation. I am pleased to support it. It shows the Rudd government is really serious about trying to provide some support for carers.

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