Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the latest Government report indicates around 120,000 older Australians are waiting for their approved home care package; and

(b) more than 72,000 older Australians on the waiting list have no home care package at all;

(2) recognises:

(a) the majority of older Australians waiting for level three and level four packages have high care needs;

(b) some older Australians have been waiting more than two years for their approved package, many of whom are in their 90s and others who have terminal illnesses; and

(c) older Australians are entering residential aged care or even emergency departments instead of receiving their approved home care package;

(3) condemns the Government for failing to stop the wait list growing; and

(4) calls on the Government to listen to the growing chorus of voices for urgent action to fix the home care packages wait list now and properly address this national crisis.

It's with some frustration I rise to speak yet again about the failure of the government to adequately support the incredibly important Home Care Packages Program. Home care packages play a really important role in ageing. They allow people to stay home as they age, whether they need a small amount of support on level 1 or a great deal of support on level 4.

Unfortunately, with the release of the latest data on home care packages, it appears that the fate of many older Australians is sealed when it comes to receiving the support they need to age with dignity in their homes. Not long ago I spoke about a woman in my electorate of Parramatta, Mary Seeward, who died before she received before her approval for a level 4 home care package after waiting for many, many months. After speaking about Mary, a number of my constituents called to relay their own family stories about their issues with My Aged Care. One person's mother had been assessed in March and, in August, had still not heard anything back. He waited 5½ hours on the phone to speak to My Aged Care before he gave up. Another man had been waiting for the assessment of his needs for My Aged Care. After prompting from our office, the assessment was finalised, but he still has to wait for three to six months for a level 1 package and nine to 12 months for the package that he requires, which is a level 2.

We know the population is ageing. There are more than 18,000 people aged over 65 in my electorate alone, but under this government's watch the home care package waiting list has increased from 88,000 people to 120,000 people. This just isn't good enough. There are 72,000 older Australians on the waiting list who have absolutely no home care package at all. These are real people waiting, sometimes for years, worried and distraught about their future and the condition of their health. Forty-two per cent of people are waiting for a level 2 funding, but one-in-six people are waiting for level 4. These are real people with chronic conditions and in many cases their needs are time-sensitive, such as for my constituent Mary, who has now passed.

We know that the home care model is the best approach for aged care, both economically and socially. What is best for the older person is often the most affordable option for the taxpayer. It just kind of works. Home care allows a person to stay connected to their neighbourhood and their family home with all its memories, retain connection to their much-loved pets and to keep their independence. For the family, it eases carer responsibility, and for people who are already struggling to balance their work and home life it's essential. And conveniently, it is the most economically sustainable model for government as it keeps people out of nursing homes prematurely and helps prevent the visit to the emergency department. With that in mind, it is incomprehensible that almost 120,000 people are still waiting for their home care packages to be approved.

This is a no-brainer. If you manage the program well, everybody wins. Yet the government is idle, standing by while this incredibly important program fails so many of our older neighbours. The unbelievably long waiting list for home care packages is symptomatic of a deeper crisis of under-resourcing. It is a system collapsing before our eyes. This month, TheSydney Morning Herald reported the findings of a study of almost 5,000 aged care staff and what they had to say should be of great concern to everybody in this House: 81 per cent of workers said they did not have the time to do the tasks they are required to do, and they admitted that they are so stretched they're cutting corners and not giving the elderly people the help they deserve, leading to more residents being left unshowered, rushed during meals or placed at the risk of serious injury. And 67 per cent of home care workers reported an increase in complex needs, including more people with dementia. This is a growing need, and this government is failing to address it. The Prime Minister, Mr Morrison, is responsible for billions of dollars of cuts to the aged-care sector in the past five years—$1.2 billion cut from aged care in his first budget as Treasurer, backing in the $500 million cut in the 2015 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

In spite of the growing needs of an ageing population, there is both a challenge and an opportunity for our nation. Aged care is not even a cabinet portfolio. There is no holistic, whole-of-government approach to aged care. In addition to underresourcing, blowouts in waiting times and funding cuts, there is a labour crisis, which has only been made worse by the government's cuts to TAFE.

Where is the plan? Waiting times now are ridiculous, and a third of aged-care workers plan to leave the industry in the next five years. It's going to get worse. There will be more people in care and fewer people to serve them. Scott Morrison has no plan now and he has no plan for the future. If he doesn't think there's a problem then he's seriously out of touch. He needs to act and he needs to act now.

See this speech in context