Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] Labor supports action to fix the mess that our aged-care system is in, but is concerned that this bill, the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response No. 2) Bill 2021, falls short, like so many of the government's responses. They were dragged kicking and screaming to have a royal commission into the crisis in aged care, but then, having received the report from the royal commission, their response has fallen short. The government have fobbed off, delayed or outright rejected the key recommendations that were made in the aged-care royal commission.

We must remember how we got to a position where we had to have a royal commission into aged care. We had a government that was failing to listen to the experts, failing to listen to the unions and those who worked in aged care and failing to listen to the families using aged care. After telling us for some time that there was no problem in the system they then, at the 11th hour when they could no longer deny the problems in aged care, they announced a royal commission. I think the government thought that this would allow them to kick the can down the road. But, unfortunately, we now have a situation where that royal commission has brought down a report and has made 148 recommendations, of which over half are not being implemented or are not being implemented properly. Of course, this bill is no different, with alterations and a number of items missing from the royal commission's recommendations, which this bill is claiming to address.

Of course, the government have not thoroughly consulted with those who are actually caring for older Australians or older Australians themselves. Older Australians, aged-care peak bodies, providers, workers and unions were not consulted in the drafting of this bill, despite the fact that this bill would have an impact on them, including in the areas of residential aged-care funding, workforce screening, provider governance, banning orders and also a code of conduct. These are changes that need to be properly consulted on, and it is disappointing that the government have not consulted on this bill. But this is not surprising, because the government haven't been doing their job when it comes to aged care in this country.

Older Australians helped to build this country. They worked hard, they paid their taxes, they raised families and they contributed to our society and our economy, and, as every Australian expects, they expect that in their time of need, as they age, they will be properly cared for and that the government will support them later in life. That is what they deserve and that is what they have earned after contributing for so long to their communities. But unfortunately, the Morrison government have not fulfilled their end of the deal when it comes to this conduct. After 21 expert reports, they knew that older people were not getting the care they needed but they did not act. Indeed, it was this current Prime Minister, as treasurer, who actually cut funding from aged care.

The Prime Minister 's record has proven that he cannot fix aged care, and his lack of leadership has meant that for eight years this government has neglected the system. It is a national disgrace. The royal commission highlighted the tragic outcome of this government's neglect, including maggots in wounds of residents and two-thirds of residents being malnourished or at the risk of malnutrition. The Morrison government's failure to listen to Australians in aged care and their families and, indeed, workers in the system, has been so disappointing. I have also been regularly hearing about this in my local electorate.

I have met with many aged-care workers who have almost been brought to tears, telling me the difficult decisions that they had to face, not how do they provide the best level of care, how do they make sure that they are able to spend time with each resident, talking about contributions, paying attention and connecting with these older residents, far from it. Local workers have been telling me that they have to choose which local resident they shower on any one day, which local resident gets their sheets changed on any one day. That is just appalling. These workers have been in tears because they went into aged care thinking that they could support and make the lives of our older citizens better. They thought they could spend the time to really provide that level of support, comfort and connection, a level of dignity, but they are just not being given the time to do that in a system that is under pressure.

Many people are finding themselves in aged care because they are no longer able to support themselves at home. I had three forums on aged care and seniors' issues recently in my electorate. When I hear people say that they are utterly scared, petrified, about a time when they might have to go into aged care, that tells us that we are just not getting it right.

In addition to potentially ending up in aged care because they can no longer care for yourself at home and do not have enough support, many people are finding that they are not even getting support at home through the home-care packages. Of course, the government, in the last budget, tried to say that they had fixed the problem by giving a booster of 80,000 new packages but with a waitlist of 100,000 people and growing, they have not addressed this problem in a substantial way. The maths does not add up. When you have a boost of home-care packages that does not meet demand then you still have thousands of people waiting. I am regularly contacted in my electorate by people who have been waiting years and for whom this measure in the budget has not fixed the issue. Whether that is getting a home-care package or, indeed, getting a higher level of care, there are people desperately waiting.

While I welcome the government's increase in packages, there are just still not enough to meet the demand out there. With this lack of packages being delivered, more and more people are feeling they have no other choice but to go into aged care and they are worried about that.

Also, in addition to home-care packages and the aged-care system, the other level of support really struggling under this government is the Commonwealth Home Support Program. I have many people who have qualified for the Commonwealth Home Support Program—that might mean extra help with the garden or the cleaning—who think, 'Excellent; I've now got this extra support,' but cannot find a provider in our local area. The books are closed because there just isn't enough funding. Delise, from Reynella, is one of those who had been approved for the Commonwealth support scheme. She contacted my office. She and her husband had been living in their family home for over 20 years and they were looking for supports to help them age at home. After Delise was approved, she said she received a list of local service providers that she could contact to get support services. She was looking for some help around the house and to look after her garden. Her husband had recently fallen while she was trying to help in the garden, and he ended up in bed for three weeks to recover. The need for some help around the house and garden was crucial. She contacted my office out of desperation. She had been trying to find a local provider to help but she was constantly told by local aged-care providers that they could not help because of the lack of government funding. Eventually, after calling and calling all the service providers on the list she was given, she was left helpless with no support.

Earlier this year, Delise and her husband made the difficult decision to sell their family home in Reynella and move into a retirement village. She had been reassessed for a Commonwealth home support package and again approved. Again, she was given a list of local providers to call to see if they could offer her services. She was incredibly frustrated to find that, again, all the local service providers said they could not assist her. Delise said that many of the providers again told her they couldn't offer any assistance due to the lack of government funding. Delise is not the only person I hear this from; I hear this over and over again from those who think they will get that extra support, only to find, when they call their local service providers, they cannot get any help.

There was also Pauline, who contacted my office about her mother's experience with the aged-care system. Like so many other stories, hers is heartbreaking and it is not difficult to be moved. She shared her experience with the constant lack of carers, which compounds an already underfunded system. She spoke of the times when her mother had to wait 40 minutes before she was able to be lifted to go to the toilet and was then forced to wear a diaper due to the lack of staff available to move residents. This was in residential aged care in my electorate, and it's just not good enough.

Josephine, from Trott Park, also shared with me her mother's experience with aged care—another heartbreaking but, tragically, all-too-common experience. Josephine's mother would only get three hours of care per day, meaning she was often left in her room for the rest of the time. Josephine believes the mental health impact on residents is significant and has contributed to her mother's deteriorating health.

We need to fix our aged-care system. Whether it is in residential aged care, whether it is in home care or whether it is a Commonwealth supported package, it is just not good enough. I am really pleased that Labor has committed to a number of things that would support people in the system: a minimum staffing level in residential aged care to reduce the home-care waiting lists so that more people can stay in their homes for longer; importantly, recommended by the royal commission, transparency and accountability; and making sure that staff have training and that there is a better surge workforce strategy. The government has implemented some of these things, but they, as I said, are not done in a way that is properly consulted on and not done in a thorough way, as demanded by the royal commission. It is important that we see the government respond to this. I would really urge the government to address this. Older Australians can't wait much longer. I have also heard of numerous occasions when residents in my electorate have actually passed away while they were waiting for an upgrade in their home-care package. This just isn't good enough. It isn't good enough, in a country like Australia, that we treat our older Australians like this.

I know that, as we move forward, Labor will have more to announce when it comes to aged care. This is critically important, but we shouldn't have to wait for a change of government to address this issue. This government should put its attention to this. It failed when it came to the vaccine rollout in aged care. It failed when it came to vaccinating aged-care workers. This was meant to be a priority, and it was like drawing blood out of a stone. This government just could not get its act together.

So, while I say that older Australians shouldn't have to wait, I think that we really need a change of government. Only a Labor government can be trusted to reform our aged-care system to ensure that older Australians get the care and support they deserve.

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