Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think what those opposite fail to realise is that people are actually dying at the moment. We need to see action and much more funding when it comes to aged care. This is a serious matter. This is a government that has failed across the board. They've not just failed; they've made the system chronically worse. Their cuts have been severe. We have a totally broken aged-care system which is in complete crisis. In doing this, the government has totally failed our seniors, the very people who built our nation. They worked hard, paid their taxes and raised their families. In their older years when they need aged-care services, whether that be home care or residential care, this government has totally abandoned them in both those areas. The fact is that those harsh choices by the Liberal and National Party hurt our older Australians.

This government's record is shameful, and in the regions we blame the National Party for this shameful record. We blame them for the cuts to the vital services because many older Australians cannot access the care they need. This government has had many years and four different ministers to deliver long-term reform, to inject funding into aged care, but all it has delivered is a broken system that is getting worse day by day. One of the issues I hear about every day is the difficulty of accessing home care, particularly in my region with an ageing population. It is distressing for those that need care and for their families. Most older Australians want to remain in their homes for as long as possible. This government's cuts are making it extremely difficult.

Many of those stories are heartbreaking. Those people are waiting for the care they need, the care they deserve, and the list grows longer each year. As a nation we should be judged by how we treat our elderly. Yet the Liberals and Nationals have done nothing but cut the funding, and there is no plan to reverse the cuts. As of June 2019 there were 120,000 older Australians waiting for a home care package. This included more than 70,000 older Australians on the waiting list with no home care package at all. Of those 120,000 waiting for home care, many are waiting for more than two years for the care they have been approved for. That is shameful. We know that 14,000 older Australians entered residential care early because they couldn't get the home care package they were approved for. So, shamefully, many people are dying waiting for that package. This is truly unacceptable. Why won't they do anything? The fact is that 16,000 older Australians died in just one year waiting for home care. Why are they not talking about that?

This week the Morrison government's response to the royal commission was a complete missed opportunity to provide the genuine reform that this country needs when it comes to aged care. The 10,000 additional home care packages announced by the government are nowhere near enough, considering the need out there. It doesn't address the chronic underfunding of home care and the need that's there. And there's no guarantee the government's package will mean older Australians will get any care sooner. We know this government has cut billions from aged care. As the number of older Australians waiting for home care grew from just over 88,000 to 120,000, the Prime Minister continued with cuts. They have continued with the mismanagement and the cuts.

This announcement of 10,000 home care packages means there are still 110,000 people waiting. What will happen to them? Will they languish at home waiting for that package? There is a desperate need. This government have chosen to ignore more than a dozen reviews—so many reports, inquiries and recommendations for fixing the aged-care system. These were compiled by experts across the aged-care sector, and the government have ignored every single one. I don't know how many more people have to tell them what's required to fix it; they won't listen to any of the older Australians, they won't listen to their families, they won't listen to the experts and they won't read any of the reports. They just don't seem to care. It is a total crisis.

We've also seen the complaints increasing. In general, they've doubled to almost 8,000 in one year, and the reason the complaints are going up is that the government keeps cutting more. They have grossly failed to resource the sector properly, and so there are fewer staff and less funding towards that regulatory regime which we desperately need.

We've seen the prime example of this on the Gold Coast, at Earle Haven. What an atrocious situation it was there—and totally the fault of this government, with their lack of funding and lack of a regulatory regime to protect our older people. The fact is that this government cannot be trusted when it comes to aged care. They cannot be trusted to look after our older Australians, whether that be in-home care or residential aged care. It is a chronic crisis situation and something must be done urgently.

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