Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Here we go again! I'm addressing an issue that I'd rather not have to address. I'd rather be talking about something else. This is extremely serious. We have some of the most vulnerable people in our community—people who have worked all their lives, people who have paid their taxes, people who have contributed to this nation—who now need a little bit of help. It's not much to ask when you've done everything you could possibly do, the right way, to build this nation. They've come to a point in life where they need that little bit of assistance, and we cannot give it to them. We cannot give them what they require after all these years of paying taxes and working.

Today we're talking about, again, and highlighting the government's failure to address home care for older Australians. We know that there are approximately 80,000 to 90,000 packages available in this nation, but there is a massive waiting list which is blowing out by 10,000 every single quarter. On the last figures released it could blow out by another 40,000 and, within a very short time, we'll have more people on the waiting list than packages available. And this is just not right.

I'm very proud to represent a seat that has a very aged population. At one stage, the demographics of those in my electorate showed that nearly 20 per cent were aged 65 and over. These are good people—people, as I said, who have contributed to this nation; people who have worked all their lives and have brought up children. These people are our mothers, our fathers, our grandfathers and grandmothers, our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, our uncles and our aunts, and they deserve better than they're currently getting from this government.

In South Australia, for example, the latest figures showed that over 11,000 people were waiting for packages; they were at home fending for themselves, or having partners, husbands or wives, or children, or nephews and nieces looking after them—carers who may themselves be aged and frail. So what we are doing is putting not only the people who require the packages but also those people who are caring for them at risk. You see that people have had to give up work to stay home to care for their loved ones.

We heard the minister say that there are financial constraints to keep people at home. Well, let's just look at that for a moment. If you spend some money to keep someone at home, it's far cheaper in the long run and costs the government far less than if they end up being hospitalised or end up very frail and very disabled, and we know that the best place for these people is at home—and the majority of people want to stay at home, with proper care.

Some people in my electorate have been given packages, but I've heard some absolute horror stories. For example, one of my Hindmarsh constituents—and we spoke with them earlier and they were happy for us to use their name—is Mr Middleton of Seaton. Seaton is a working-class area, an area where people work very hard all of their lives to make ends meet. Mr Middleton is in his 90s. He contacted us after trying to access a package for his wife. She was placed on a level 4, after an assessment, back in 2014. In 2014, you have to remember, the then Prime Minister was the member for Warringah, about a year after the government had won the election. Fast forward to January 2017: Mrs Middleton passed away without that package. That is a disgrace. It is not acceptable and shouldn't be happening in our nation. Mr Middleton and Mrs Middleton worked very hard all their lives, and they deserved better. So how much assistance did they get? Zilch, from the government; zero; absolutely nothing.

There are many more—like Ernesta and her husband, Ross. The daughter contacted us, saying that the mother has been waiting 18 months. They had contacted My Aged Care on 43 different occasions—43 different occasions—and spent hours on the phone with no further assistance. They'd been provided with eight different ACAT reference numbers. The husband has been waiting since August 2015 and only recently started receiving level 3, when they were assessed for level 4.

Antonietta is another one; she was assessed over 12 months ago and cannot find a provider for level 4 assistance. Unfortunately, in March-April, Antonietta had to go into a nursing home—costing the government quadruple what it would have cost the government to keep her at home on a level 4 package.

This is unacceptable. We know that the numbers are increasing by 10,000 every quarter. Yet we see no action on the other side to fix this. On our side of government, this is a priority for us. These are people, as I said, who deserve better and should be getting much better than they currently are.

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