Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I reject the proposition in that question, and I do that for a number of reasons—firstly, because, under the current scheme, there are non-government contracts, and that is a very important thing to note. Secondly, I want to challenge the fundamental assumption that things need to stay exactly as they are; that they couldn't be better. All of this questioning is about how things could be better—and they can be better in terms of the assessment system and the way that the experience of families occurs. How do I know this? I know this because, in the Tune review, precisely the question that was raised by the member was addressed. What is it that David Tune said? Mr Tune—one of the most distinguished former public servants that this parliament and this federal government has been privileged to have—said:

I consider that to create a seamless aged care system that is responsive to consumer needs and enable the government to fully understand demand, it should be a priority to combine the RAS and ACAT assessment workforces and systems into an integrated assessment workforce. It may be preferable to implement this using a staged approach, considering opportunities to trial the integration in some locations, for example in particular rural and remote regions or in jurisdictions that have not yet fully transitioned to the national system.

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