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

Every Australian deserves to age with dignity and respect. As we all learnt during the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, this has not always been the case. We heard of cases that shocked us all. We had to hear about them. We had to listen, and now we must act. That is why I welcome the Morrison government's response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety which includes a five-year implementation plan underpinned by five pillars: home care to support people in their homes so that they can age at home—that is what the consumer has asked for, and that is what the government will deliver; residential aged-care services and sustainability, which will help improve service sustainability to ensure that individual care needs and preferences are met; residential aged-care quality and safety to improve access to, and quality of, residential care; workforce—growing a bigger more highly skilled caring workforce; and, of most relevance today, governance—simplifying navigation, improving governance and oversight, and introducing a new aged care act.

In this budget, the Morrison government has committed to a once-in-a-generation investment with an additional $17.7 billion in practical and targeted new funding to significantly improve the system. This includes a further 80,000 new home-care packages which will bring the total of available home-care packages to over 275,000. This is what the public wants. Further, $3.9 billion is being invested to increase the number of care minutes delivered to residents in aged-care facilities, mandated at 200 minutes per day, including 40 minutes with a registered nurse. A registered nurse will also be required to be at the residence for a minimum of 16 hours a day. We are also supporting over 33,000 new training places for personal carers and a new Indigenous workforce, along with providing retention bonuses to keep more nurses in the aged-care sector. This is incredibly important. We need to incentivise the aged-care sector. This investment in our budget brings the total investment in aged care to over $119 billion over the next four years.

The member for Mayo is calling for a joint select committee for greater oversight, but what the honourable member fails to understand is that we don't need more bureaucratic parliamentary supervision. What we need is enhanced consumer engagement. The voice of older Australians needs to be heard. That is what is clear from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Indeed, from the senior Australians using residential aged-care services and from providers within the aged-care sector, we heard a very loud and resounding cry for help. That is why the interim report was called Neglect. They have not been heard. They want their voices to be heard—not another committee pontificating on politics. The need is to hear the views of people, not politicians. As Winston Churchill famously said, it is the people who control the government, not the government the people.

There are three new ways that the voices of older citizens will be heard. These include, firstly, a council of elders. Following recommendations from the final report of the royal commission, a council of elders will be established this year to provide a direct voice to government from senior Australians. Secondly, a national aged-care advisory council is part of the recommendations of the final report. The advisory council would provide expert advice to government on a range of matters, including implementation of the aged-care reforms. Lastly, following the recommendations of the report, an inspector-general of aged care would be established as a new office. This oversight of the aged-care system will provide greater transparency and independence. Its functions will include identifying and investigating systemic issues in the provision or regulation of aged care, producing and publishing reports of its findings and making recommendations to government.

It's important that we seek to meet the needs of an ageing population. We know Australia is ageing, and we know the residential aged-care sector is ageing even faster as people become older and more frail in aged care. In the aged-care sector, we need to make sure the services are there to support them. Following the royal commission into aged care, senior Australians and their loved ones know that the Morrison government's response comes with an absolute commitment to restoring trust in the system and allowing Australians to age with dignity and respect.

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