Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Shortland for her question, certainly not a dibber dobber. This week the House passed five bills which give legal effect to the government's living longer, living better aged care reform package. This legislation has been the subject of very detailed work with the aged-care sector, and follows the delivery already of a number of key elements of the reform package. These include things like the design and the release of new home-care packages that are due to commence on 1 July, provided legislation passes through the other place. There are also programs that will kick in this year to provide much better support to families living with dementia, as well as better linkages between the aged-care system and the broader healthcare and palliative care sectors. There are also determinations by the new Aged Care Financing Authority about how providers will qualify for increased accommodation payments from the government, as well as a fairer and more transparent system of accommodation charges for consumers themselves.

This element featured in many of the contributions on this debate from those opposite, who were concerned apparently that greater choice about how consumers will pay their accommodation charges will impact the viability of some providers. The Aged Care Financing Authority is obviously—I hope this goes without saying—alive to these questions of viability. This is a highly qualified group which independently provides advice which, for the first time, is transparently published on the government's website. Indeed, the Aged Care Financing Authority commissioned advice from KPMG particularly on this question of viability. This advice has been released recently on the website, last week, I think. I table this report for the benefit of the House. After the release of the advice, the Aged Care Financing Authority wrote to me providing advice on that advice. They concluded: 'The Authority supports the overall findings of the analysis that the reforms can be expected to have a significant positive impact on the overall level of refundable accommodation deposits and revenue for the industry.' I table that correspondence from the authority as well.

These reforms will undoubtedly provide greater choice, control and flexibility for older Australians about their aged care and support needs. These reforms provide much greater emphasis on the ability of older Australians to stay at home for as long as possible, as well as responses to emerging pressures like the increasing prevalence of dementia in our communities. The government looks forward to debate on these bills in the other place, following receipt of the Senate inquiry into the bills, and then being able to get on with the job of providing the best possible care and support to Australian seniors.

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