Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

On Friday, I met with Prith Chakravarti, who lives in one of Adelaide's southern suburbs. I was very disappointed to learn that Prith had been approved for a level 3 home care package in 2016. He was reassessed in 2018 and once again told that he needed a level 3 home care package. But, disappointingly, he still has not been able to access the money that goes along with this assessment. He is waiting. He lives alone and he needs care. As his needs have increased, he has had to cut back to make his current level 2 package work for him, to see him through until he receives the money that is associated with his approved level 3 package. The increase in transport costs associated with doctors' appointments and visits to his wife, who is in a nursing home, has forced him to cut back on a number of other things, including cancelling his Meals on Wheels. Prith also needs proper nursing care, but he is only able to receive limited domestic care. A level 3 package would provide him with the extra funding he needs to maintain these basic requirements. Indeed, the assessment identified that he needs this level of support. He has been told that there is an issue with Treasury: Treasury will not release the money for his package. He joins more than 121,000 people waiting for a home aged-care package.

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