Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a member of the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport, I rise today to speak on the report on the inquiry into the quality of care in aged care facilities in Australia of October 2018. This inquiry was long overdue and, for many on the committee, it re-enforced what we already knew. Within the aged care sector, there exist myriad problems. We already knew this; the public already knew this—which begs the question as to why it has taken the government so long to take any action.

From the outset, I wish to make it clear that I support the government's decision to hold a royal commission into the sector. For some time, we in the Labor Party have acknowledged and championed action to address the state of crisis that the sector is in. We need a royal commission to thoroughly investigate and uncover the structural problems that we know occur in the aged care sector.

Call me a cynic, but I can't help but wonder why the committee and its findings weren't considered by the government before it announced its royal commission and terms of reference. I would have thought this report, which has just been handed down, would have been instrumental in setting the terms of reference for the royal commission. Policy on the run appears to be the norm for those opposite. I hold sincere fears that the government will delay taking any action to address the aged care problems until after the findings of the royal commission are handed down. We cannot afford for the government to neglect their responsibilities any longer. The crisis needs to start being fixed now—right now. Any delayed action to address this national crisis in the immediate future will prove the government hypocritical. They didn't wait for this report to be handed down before announcing a royal commission, so they needn't wait for the commission's findings to take the necessary steps to address problems that are occurring today, every day, in residential aged care and also in home care for those who are aged.

Through my experience on the inquiry, I would think the coalition's years of cuts to the aged care sector need to be front and centre. You wouldn't know it when they speak. They are always quick to blame their issues on governments past, but the reality is that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government have been in power for five years—five years. Think of all that Gough Whitlam achieved in a period of less than three years. The next time Scott Morrison and his mates try to blame their issues on a long-gone Labor government, we will speak out. The reality is that the Liberal-National government have cut billions of dollars from the aged care sector since coming to power. You can't fix aged care by cutting from it. Some responsibility for this crisis falls on the shoulders of those presently in power through their poor governance. The man with his hand on the tiller, Prime Minister Scott Morrison himself, shares a great deal of responsibility. He himself signed off on a $1.2 billion cut to aged care in his very first budget as Treasurer.

However, I want to take this opportunity to thank all those on this committee for their work in delivering this bipartisan report and specifically acknowledge the work of the committee secretariat, who have worked tirelessly, travelled extensively and delivered what is essentially a terrific report that underlines the problems that exist. In particular, I'd also like to thank the chair of the committee, the member for North Sydney, and the deputy chair, the member for Hindmarsh, for their tireless efforts in delivering this bipartisan report.

The report's recommendations that will improve transparency in complaints and complaint resolution, enhance access to medical practitioners in aged-care facilities, provide simplified ratings systems for facilities, guarantee access to a registered nurse in all facilities and establish unannounced audits of aged-care facilities, I believe, are of the utmost importance. We have heard some pretty harrowing evidence of late about aged care, both through this inquiry and through investigative journalism. We know Australia's population is ageing, and the demand for the provision of aged-care services is only going to increase in the coming years. We owe it to our older Australians, who have contributed to our society and, indeed, helped to build our nation in many ways, to ensure issues in our aged-care sector are addressed. From my vantage point, the inquiry demonstrated there are models of care that work extremely well, where people's needs are met medically, socially and environmentally, relationships are fostered, and families' individual situations are understood. However, best practice management is not available to all.

Other recommendations this committee made through this report include those which will contribute to an improved aged-care system in the future through the development of national guidelines. The individual needs of the patient must be considered first and foremost in addressing the level of care that's provided in aged-care facilities. To those who read the report, it's evident the committee is recommending a shift in focus for this inquiry, with a consumer-orientated approach deemed necessary. This may sound obvious to most Australians, but if we know anything from this developing crisis, it's clear the needs of the elderly, the real consumers, have not been made a priority.

As the chair of the standing committee, the member for North Sydney, Mr Trent Zimmerman, said in his foreword of this report:

Providing high quality residential care to older Australians is an obligation we have as a society and a parliament.

We require understanding of the increasingly complex medical and social needs of older people in residential aged care. Many of the problems we saw and stories we heard related to lack of understanding, poor governance, lack of transparency, under-resourcing and poor communication. As a doctor, I found it quite distressing to hear evidence that frail aged people are not receiving the best medical and nursing care that we can provide at the end of people's lives. In particular, difficulties getting adequate pain relief, difficulty accessing palliative care, problems accessing general practitioners and specialists as well as paramedical services need to be resolved urgently if best practice care is to be provided.

We know that high-quality evidence based care can be provided, but this requires (1) adequate funding. (2) adequate staffing levels, (3) adequate training of staff, (4) a patient focus, and, most importantly, (5) transparency. I'd like to echo the remarks of my friend and colleague the member for Hindmarsh, Mr Steve Georganas:

… older Australians deserve better, and they do deserve better. They deserve better from governments, from agencies, from aged-care facilities and from all who are involved with our older Australians. They deserve better from all of us.

This report is a sound place for the government to start, but I must stress they must start today and they must provide better quality care for older Australians who are in the twilight of their lives. This will benefit us all and is a requirement of a just and caring society.

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