Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the motion moved by the member for Macquarie. I commend her on the motion. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety titled their interim report Neglect. The commissioners chose that word—'neglect'—and it sums up the Morrison government's treatment of vulnerable older Australians. It is nothing short of a disgrace. As deputy chair of the human rights committee, I tabled a majority report, along with a dissenting report, into the government's regulation about physical and chemical restraints in aged-care facilities. The dissenting report was by all the Labor members of the committee and the Greens political party members of the committee. The dissenting report called for the regulation to be disallowed.

The restraint of residents in aged-care facilities is an abhorrent practice. It should be considered only in the most limited of circumstances where all other options have been exhausted and where it is in the best interests of the person being restrained. No-one would want to see vulnerable older Australians being doped up to their eyeballs just for the convenience of the facility or, even worse, so fewer staff are required to provide bigger profits for shareholders. We know that this is happening. We know that there is far too much reliance on chemical restraint in some aged-care facilities. The failed aged-care facility on the Gold Coast, Earle Haven, is reported to have had 70 per cent of its residents under chemical restraint. This was on this government's watch. It's happening, and the Morrison government's responsibility to protect those residents and to make sure that they're being treated safely, appropriately and with the dignity that they deserve is not happening.

The regulation made by the government that commenced operation in July this year—the Quality of Care Amendment (Minimising the Use of Restraints) Principles 2019—was described by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in their interim report as 'adding to, rather than overcoming, concerns regarding regulation of physical and chemical restraint, including on issues of consent'. The majority report by the Liberal members of the human rights committee agreed that there were serious issues with the regulation but did not call for the instrument to be disallowed.

The health minister has now tabled an additional regulation—the Quality of Care Amendment (Reviewing Restraints Principles) Principles 2019. This new instrument changes the wording of a heading, adds a note at the end of a provision and provides for a review after the regulation has been in operation for one year. This new regulation is an apparent attempt to bandaid the haemorrhaging wound created by the original, ill-thought-out instrument. It is not enough. The shambolic and ham-fisted regulation-making is a disgrace.

Australians in residential aged-care facilities are some of our most vulnerable citizens and they require a government that actually cares about their wellbeing, a government that doesn't neglect them. It is clear that this Morrison government doesn't care about older Australians. Embarrassed about the royal commission's interim report, the Morrison government responded by announcing 10,000 home care packages and only 5,500 packages in the first year. What a joke—although it's obviously far from funny if you're one of the 120,000 older Australians who are waiting for home care. There are extra places for 10,000 people, but that is less than the amount of older Australians who died last year while waiting for their home care package. More than 16,000 Australians died while waiting for their home care package that had been approved. That is neglect.

This government seem to think that, as long as they make some announcement, they're doing their job. Well, they're not. In fact, it's far from it. If they were doing their job, they would make sure that all of the 120,000 Australian citizens who are languishing on the waiting list for a home care package are receiving their package now. Remember that these 120,000 older Australians have all been assessed as actually needing a home care package. They should all have their packages and be able to live out their lives in the comfort of their homes with the support that they need—the support that this government promised them they would have.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's interim report called on the Morrison government to do three things immediately: to provide more home care packages; to respond to the significant overreliance on chemical restraints in aged care; and to stop the flow of younger people with disability going into aged care and expedite the process of getting those younger people who are already in aged care out of those facilities. The government's response to the royal commission's very considered interim report is a joke. They are facilitating continued neglect. Older Australians deserve better than this. We all deserve better than this for our loved ones, for our parents, for our grandparents and for our neighbours; for our citizens that have served our nation for so long. All these people who need home-care packages should be receiving extra support. We need to have safe and dignified care in aged-care facilities, or appropriate care if they are younger people with disability. This is an urgent need and it needs real action now.

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