Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I have the privilege of doing the summing-up speech on this debate. I thank the member for Blair for his comments, and, in respect to my aged-care website, I know that our department has been working on the issues that have been raised, as each issue is identified. I want to acknowledge the work they are doing in order to streamline the process and for a better point of access. I also thank the member for Ryan, the member for McMillan—and I certainly concur that the staff in aged care are the salt of the earth because of the support and services they deliver—and the member for Grey.

The Aged Care Amendment (Red Tape Reduction in Places Management) Bill 2015 is an important component of the government's deregulation agenda. Australia has an ageing population, with the life expectancy of older people increasing. With this demographic comes the need for governments to support older people with their increasing care needs and make the process of delivering care less administratively burdensome.

This bill makes the business of delivering aged care easier for service providers and removes unnecessary red tape so that a focus on care delivery can be at the forefront of a service provider's attention. This bill aligns with the action areas in the Red Tape Reduction Action Plan by reviewing current practice and assessing the case for enhanced policy settings, streamlining administrative requirements and ensuring fit-for-purpose regulation.

The amendments proposed in this bill remove the need for approved providers to seek approval to transfer their places to another provider. They simply notify the Department of Health of the transfer and wait for the transfer to be processed. The Department of Health will retain the ability to veto transfers where they are not appropriate, and must still consider the matters critical to ensuring aged-care consumers are protected. As part of the notice to veto, the location and special needs associated with the places remain an important consideration for government. These requirements to continue to support older people, including those who live in rural or remote areas, will be maintained by this amendment.

The amendments proposed in this bill also reduce the number of times approved providers who have been provisionally allocated places must apply to extend the period of provisional allocation. The bill amends the act to give approved providers four years, with the possibility of two 12-month extensions and further extensions in exceptional circumstances.

Both measures are founded on the three key concepts of only seeking additional information from the aged-care sector that is necessary to provide an informed risk-managed perspective of the proposed transfer; reduced involvement in business transactions of approved providers of residential care; and, most importantly, upholding quality aged-care service delivery and other consumer protections. This bill is a positive step forward in reducing red tape for aged-care providers.

I thank the members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. These measures have been supported by those consulted within the aged-care sector, and I welcome your support for this bill in reducing red tape in the management of aged-care places.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

See this speech in context