Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a doctor, I'm deeply committed to ensuring better health outcomes for not only my own constituents in Higgins but all Australians. As we all know, Australians are living longer, and they want the security and protections that the aged-care sector will provide for them in their twilight years. The Morrison government is passionate in leading, improving and reforming this aged-care sector. Yes, I know there can be complaints that it's not happening fast enough. But let's be very clear: this sector has been changing incredibly rapidly, and that is because of the population bubble that is occurring before our very eyes. We know that Australians are getting older—and getting healthier in the process—and there is a baby boomer bubble ahead of us. By 2030 there will be more Australians over the age of 80 than ever before in our history. Steady economic growth, smaller nuclear families and a high propensity for people to work later into their older years mean that there is more need for aged-care facilities than ever before. This bill before us today, the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Serious Incident Response Scheme and Other Measures) Bill 2020, is a step towards much-needed reform, introducing a Serious Incident Response Scheme for residential aged care and for flexible care delivered in a residential aged-care setting.

It can be very hard to trust others to care for your loved ones. I personally know how it feels; I experienced this with my father. He had a long career as a doctor. Later in life, he developed Alzheimer's. Because of his career as a doctor, he knew what it was like to care for patients with dementia. He knew what lay ahead. And, as I said in my first speech in this House, it was heartbreaking to watch as this gentle man, who had himself cared for so many with this disease, was tortured by it. Throughout his slow and unrelenting deterioration, he never once complained. In the last year before his death, he lost the faculty of speech, but he had two words left: thank you. Dad's gratitude for the family and the life he was given was boundless. But I know as a daughter that putting my father into aged care was a very difficult step. We as a family kept my father at home as long as possible because we wanted to care for him in his own home. It can be very, very challenging for those who have loved ones in aged care and even more challenging if that loved one is unable to communicate with you and you have no option but to trust the people whom you have employed to care for your loved one. It can be so unsettling for families and loved ones, and this bill will help give them a sense of comfort.

The Australian government has no tolerance for abuse and neglect in aged care. Our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, cares deeply about this issue, and the first royal commission he called for as Prime Minister was into aged care, so it's something that is very much at the centre of his agenda.

Australians have rights which do not diminish with age. This bill will see improved legal frameworks which will provide appropriate protections and safeguards for older Australians, who should be enjoying their golden years without having to face any form of abuse. This bill will also provide much-needed confidence to loved ones who have placed a family member in aged care.

This bill implements key recommendations from the Australian Law Reform Commission's report entitled Elder abusea national legal response and from the report of the Review of National Aged Care Quality Regulatory Processes handed down by Ms Kate Carnell and Professor Ron Paterson. The bill is also consistent with the National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians (Elder Abuse) and aims to address issues raised in counsel assisting's final submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The Serious Incident Response Scheme will replace the current responsibilities, under the Aged Care Act, of approved providers of residential aged care and flexible care delivered in an aged-care setting in relation to reportable assaults and unexplained absences. The bill will require approved providers to manage incidents and take reasonable steps to prevent incidents, including through implementing and maintaining effective organisation-wide governance systems for management and reporting of incidents of abuse and neglect. Both as a previous chair of a school council and as a board member of a hospital, I know how important these checks and balances are.

The bill will also require approved providers of residential care and flexible care delivered in an aged-care setting to report all serious incidents to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. A wider range of incidents, including but not limited to unreasonable use of force; unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct; psychological or emotional abuse; unexpected death; stealing or financial coercion by a staff member; neglect; inappropriate physical or chemical restraint; and unexplained absence from care, will all be reportable.

The Serious Incident Response Scheme will also remove the existing exemption for reporting assaults where the alleged perpetrator is a residential aged-care recipient with cognitive or mental impairment and the victim is another care recipient. I know it might seem shocking to those listening to hear that such a step is required, but we need to remain alert, not alarmed. These events do happen, and we cannot turn a blind eye to them.

This bill will also strengthen protections for people who disclose incidents of abuse or neglect in aged care. These protections will extend to both existing and former staff members as well as to current and past residential aged-care recipients, their families and others supporting them, including volunteers and advocates. This bill will protect people disclosing such failures against any civil or criminal liability. As in any system, whistleblowers need the courage to speak out, but more than that they need protection from a natural, innate tendency for organisations to protect themselves against criticism. An open, transparent and accountable system provides an important underpinning to build trust in an organisation. Whistleblower protection is just such a mechanism that builds trust. All Australians would want to have this protection for themselves and their loved ones.

This bill will also expand the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission's powers to enforce the requirements of the Serious Incident Response Scheme and the responsibilities of approved providers and related offences more generally. These will include standard regulatory powers which provide the commission with a more graduated suite of powers for ensuring compliance and protecting consumers. An additional information-gathering power will also ensure the commission is able to obtain the information and documents it requires to administer the Serious Incident Response Scheme. But we are not simply stopping there. We are not stopping at residential aged care; we're extending these provisions into other aspects of the aged-care sector. That is why the government has also put forward a feasibility study to inform future government decisions on the potential introduction of a similar serious incident response scheme in home and community aged care.

This bill is further proof of the Morrison government's commitment to improving aged care for all senior Australians, which remains one of the government's key priorities. We are delivering record investment across the aged-care sector. It has grown from $13.3 billion in 2012-13 under Labor to $23.9 billion in 2020-21 under our Morrison government. It is estimated that funding for aged care will grow to more than $27 billion by 2023-24. Senior Australians are increasingly choosing to remain in their own homes for longer. This is something our government is committed to and supports. We believe in supporting choice. More than $746 million in aged-care COVID-19 response measures has been part of the $1.6 billion in COVID-specific support in aged care. This investment in the budget will see an additional 23,000 home-care packages to help care for older Australians in their homes in this financial year. That is because we recognise that Australians want to stay home longer, want to stay healthy and want to stay in their own homes.

The Morrison government has delivered, and will continue to deliver, on aged care. This bill enables the next phase of aged-care reform, which I hope will receive a bipartisan approach across the parliament—working together to ensure we are delivering the best possible outcomes and protection to our older Australians living within the aged-care sector, now and into the future.

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