Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on behalf of the 1,423 older Australians on the Central Coast of New South Wales waiting for home care and the estimated 2,846 people who care for them. In my electorate of Dobell, on the New South Wales Central Coast, and across Australia, the home care waiting list continues to climb. I have witnessed firsthand the impact of this government's failure to older Australians and those who care for them. In my community, over the last three quarters, this crisis has continued to grow. Of particular concern are those people how have been assessed and approved and who are waiting with no package and little or no support. Many have been told they can expect to wait a year or more before an appropriate service may become available. Most are waiting for level 3 or level 4 packages. These are people with high-care needs, many living with dementia. Some are offered a lower level home care package as a stopgap. Many are waiting without assistance.

In my community on the Central Coast of New South Wales, as at 30 September 2018, the number of people waiting for a home care package who had been given no assistance was 1,178. By December last year, the total number of people waiting for home care of any description on the Central Coast had increased to 1,286. By March this year, the number had climbed to 1,423. As I mentioned, in my community some people have waited over two years for an approved home care package. Sadly, they're not unique or alone as this crisis deepens across the country, demonstrating the failure of the Liberal government to properly recognise or respond to the crisis. People are entering residential care while waiting for their approved level of home care package. People are ending up in emergency departments while waiting for their approved level of home care package. And, sadly, people are dying while waiting for their home care package.

Labor has been calling for urgent action to reduce the waitlist for home care packages since data was first released, yet the government has failed to properly respond. This government sat on the January to March quarter data for over three months and only released the figures after the election. Reforms to aged care were meant to give older Australians support to stay at home and to live with dignity, but these figures confirm the Liberals are failing older Australians. Based on the most recent data, more than 129,000 older Australians are currently waiting for their approved home care package.

I want to turn to carers. What the government hasn't recognised or acknowledged is that, for every elderly Australian waiting for a home care package, there's least one, but usually two or more, carers under immense pressure. That means, when the impact on primary carers, partners, family members and friends is considered, an estimated 250,000 Australians are caught up in this crisis. Ara Creswell, CEO of Carers Australia, who I met with again today to discuss the crisis, said that long waiting times for home care packages which provide an adequate level of support can seriously affect the capacity of older people to cope at home in both the short and longer term. While they are waiting:

… their level of health is likely to decline and their need for support increase, making it difficult to live at home unless they have family and friend carers who can provide the level of care they need. Working carers may have to give up their jobs, while partner carers may also be ageing and not able to provide the level of care needed, or can only do so at the risk of compromising their own health and wellbeing.

…   …   …

It needs to be remembered that 36 per cent of all carers are over the age of 65 and most are caring for a partner. Their ability to keep on providing high levels of care will frequently depend on additional support from the aged care system.

Lorraine from Gorokan in my electorate in New South Wales is one of the 129,000 older Australians waiting for a home care package. Her husband, Tom, is 73 and is one of the estimated 250,000 Australians caring for a loved one without proper support. Lorraine was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2017. She needs a wheelchair outside and uses a walking frame at home. Lorraine applied for and was approved for a home care level 3 package this month and has been told she may have to wait a year for the service to become available. She has organised some help in the meantime with household chores, but her husband, Tom, has, out of necessity, become her primary carer. Fortunately, right now his health is good. Lorraine says:

He is my primary carer, doing all the cooking, shopping and gardening and I do worry about the stress. I don't want to see my husband get worn out.

As Carers Australia rightly points out, aged care is a very complex space, and, while many things are being addressed, carers keep getting pushed to the bottom of the heap. This Liberal government has abandoned thousands of elderly Australians, their partners, family and friends. I speak from my firsthand experience as a carer helping to look after my late father, who lived with young-onset dementia. The government must act urgently to fix the home care crisis. (Time expired)

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