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

I want to thank the Member for Menzies and acknowledge that tomorrow is the three-decade anniversary of his being sworn into this House, which is an extraordinary achievement.

In particular, as we look at the work that's been done to protect our oldest and most vulnerable Australians, with the focus being on the aged-care rollout around the country, and the fact that that is nearing completion, it is important, I think, that we outline the actions that have been taken to protect older Australians. I would note that the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer has advised me that, following the meeting of the medical expert panel, he will be declaring greater Melbourne as a hotspot area for the purposes of Commonwealth support. That, in particular, includes single worker support for all aged-care residential facilities within that hotspot area.

More broadly, during the course of the pandemic we have provided $204 million for supporting aged-care preparedness—for surge workforce, which has been fundamental in those facilities where they have faced challenges, because when a staff member has been exposed in the community, as was the case during the Victorian second wave, often multiple staff members are then not able to work due to contact tracing and self-isolation requirements. $442 million has been made available for the aged-care continuity of workforce program. These are workforce retention payments. Around the world in other places, in parts of Europe and parts of North America, we have seen many staff who did not feel that circumstances were safe and, therefore, they were not able to be retained.

At the earliest possible time, we realised the importance of supporting our aged-care workers, and the workforce retention payment was a way of both recognising and supporting those workers. They have done an extraordinary job. We owe those aged-care workers, and the nurses and everybody involved, a deep debt of national gratitude. There has been over $200 million to support the COVID-19 response for the Commonwealth Home Support Program, and $93 million for aged-care workers in COVID-19 grants for additional actions within the region. In particular, when we look at what's occurred, there has been $57 million in additional support for aged care under the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response, and $35 million, very importantly, for expanding mental health support for aged-care residents. That mental health support is a fundamental element of supporting both residents and workers. We thank all of the workers and we provide our support to the residents. (Time expired)

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