Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, would acknowledge the member for Hindmarsh's putting forward of this motion today and the important debate that we're having. And I acknowledge the contribution by the member for Fisher, a government member, today. But I would take note of a few things that were included in the member for Fisher's contribution. One of those was the notion that this is a question of the states slowing down this system.

We all know that aged care, or looking after our seniors and our elderly, is critically important. It's a test of who we are as a society: how we create policies that will support people. When Labor was in government, the Living Longer Living Better reforms were designed to deliver choice. They were designed to deliver packages that would allow people to stay independently in their homes for longer. There are lots of reasons for that, not least of which is the dignity, of course, of all of our seniors and about them having control of their lives and independence. That was a critical element.

But another critical element around this policy area is that we know that if people are supported appropriately at home then there will be less time spent in hospitals. That's important for the individuals because, of course, hospital stays can be traumatic. I know from speaking to constituents and family friends that a hospital stay can leave some of our elderly citizens disoriented on their return to home. It can be quite disruptive and can put them back in terms of the way they live their lives. So it was really important that we came up with a model that would support people in staying at home. Most importantly, the member for Fisher referenced constrained fiscal environments. Well, these are preventative measures that were designed specifically to make sure people had dignity but also created less cost on the health system in terms of people spending time in hospital. That was a really important issue.

The system works so that the assessments are done by the states. But what we have seen is that this government, since February, has refused to release the data around how long people are waiting after that assessment has been done. That is the critical point here. People are getting their assessments done, and then they are being told, 'We don't know how long you will be waiting to access your aged-care package,' particularly the level 3 and level 4, which of course are the higher end of the higher end packages. That is the issue here today. We can't live in this policy void where we don't know what those waiting lists are, and we certainly can't have elderly citizens and their families and carers in this space of uncertainty for elongated times. What we know from our electorates is that those times are, it seems, getting longer and longer.

In my electorate this weekend, on social media last night, a call went out from some concerned locals about an elderly person who is looking to be released from hospital after some very serious events. The family desperately want this person to come home, and a call has gone out in the community to raise funds to support that person going home. I know that, in my office today, somebody could well be, by now, responding to the families by trying to look at this case and sort out what the options are and where we're going. We just heard from the member for Fisher that he has 10 such people in his electorate who he is talking to the minister about.

This is not the way to run a system. We were promised in July that these figures would be released. We were promised in August that these figures would be released. It is now September, and it is past time that we were given access and transparency around this data so that we can get a good look at how this system is working. If it is the case that it needs to be rejigged then it will need to be rejigged. But, in that process, I cannot stand here and accept notions that we can't afford to look after people properly, and I certainly can't listen to those arguments when we know that these preventative measures are a cost-saving measure on top of creating dignity for older Australians and allowing them independence and a way to control all of their lives and stay at home longer.

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