Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Skills) Share this | Hansard source

The government has squandered its responsibility in its response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's interim report. It has failed to provide the genuine reform which would truly fix the aged-care sector. This is a third-term government which constantly throws its hands in the air, seemingly baffled by the problems in aged care and unaware of the countless reports which provide solutions sitting on the minister's desk.

Take workforce: yesterday, the government blamed workforce as one of the reasons they can't fix home care packages, claiming that if they expand all their places they may be filled by staff who might not be properly trained. Well, one of this government's first actions was to rip out the $1.5 billion that Labor had put into a workforce strategy supplement. They've had a workforce task force report, which the member for Franklin reminded them of just before, sitting on their desks for more than a year now. It has 14 actions in it. The author of that, Professor John Pollaers, said in his royal commission evidence that he was disappointed by the government's lack of action when it comes to workforce. So for the government to say, 'Oh, we haven't done anything on workforce, so we can't have any more home care packages,' is absolutely appalling. This is their problem. It is their fault. They are in government; we have to keep reminding them! They've been there for six years.

Workforce is one of the most crucial parts to fixing our broken aged-care system. We've heard time and time again that staff are pushed to the limit. They want and need more time to care. It has emerged as a key issue at the aged-care royal commission, and is something which the wonderful aged-care unions, the United Workers Union, the ANMF and the HSU, have been raising for years. Staffing numbers, skill mix, staff training, qualifications and experience are key concerns which negatively impact on the ability of staff to provide quality care.

The impetus to get this right is huge. We must have a quality workforce which sees aged-care workers getting the respect and dignity they deserve. Aged care is not babysitting; as a nurse, I know that. I want to send a big shout-out to all the nurses and carers in the unions who are here this week campaigning against the government's awful anti-union-busting bills.

To another issue: the government seems to have no capacity for accountability and transparency in aged care. The government's announcement promises 'pockets' of money, but doesn't provide any clear policy guidance on how taxpayers can be assured that their money will actually be directed to care. All funding should come with tighter accountability to ensure that providers do not siphon off any money to excessively line their own pockets. It was recently reported that more than half of the nursing homes run by Australia's largest private provider, Bupa, are failing basic standards of care, and 30 per cent are putting the health and safety of the elderly at serious risk. I'm sorry, but the question has to be asked: how does a provider that receives nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer subsidies get away with this? Funding should be tied to care. It is a simple premise. If a for-profit provider is making millions of dollars out of publicly funded beds yet is neither providing enough staff nor delivering quality care then that must be addressed.

Finally, this week one of my constituents, Lily Coy, was interviewed by Channel Nine, recounting an experience that hundreds of thousands of older Australians have experienced. Lily is 86 years old. She spent 18 months begging for a home care package. She said:

I wasn't coping. I couldn't walk from the table to the sink.

She said having to demand the assistance she was entitled to was 'humiliating', and her package was only granted when my office intervened. She said:

We're not bits of paper. We're not numbers on a bit of paper.

And Lily said she feels awful thinking about others who are still waiting for home care packages:

I feel terrible. It makes me feel so guilty and sad.

She shouldn't feel guilty and sad; the government should feel guilty and sad!

This week's announcement of 10,000 home care packages means there are still 110,000 Australians assessed and waiting. The crisis is getting worse. The government has no idea what it means to watch an elderly parent waiting in vain for assistance at home. The solution isn't simple; it requires thought and genuine reform. But, as the government, it is your job. Do your job! Workers in aged care and silent Australians, the ones dying waiting for home care packages, are depending on you.

See this speech in context