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

I rise because I think we need to put the record straight with regard to aged care. The first thing to say is that our aged-care sector is one that's going through massive transition, and that's not just here in Australia but in fact right around the world, and that is because—because of fantastic health outcomes and medical technology—Australians are living longer, as are those in other countries in the developed world. They're living longer and they're living better. That is putting a massive impost on the aged-care sector, because Australians want to live at home longer, and so then, when they go into the aged-care sector, they are older and more frail and often have more co-morbidities. So there is a massive change that is happening, as we speak, in the aged-care sector, and this is being fuelled by baby boomers in our population, so that we'll see, as we reach the 2030s, a massive explosion of older people in the aged-care sector.

This government has seen this coming and has been prepared to put real money on the table, along with real reforms to help transition the aged-care sector. But it is a sector that is under stress and will remain under stress as baby boomers age into their 80s. It is fair to say that, in the aged-care sector, people are older and more frail, but we also know that older Australians are getting the choice that they want, which is to age at home with dignity and grace.

There's no doubt that the royal commission into aged care has been shocking. It's been shocking, because the system has been under stress. This is a government that has stood up and said, 'We are going to invest record funding into the aged-care sector and we are going to do it in a way that deals with the changes that are occurring.' We have five important pillars that address this. Firstly, home care. We understand that Australians want to age with dignity, grace and respect. They want to age at home, and we want to provide that opportunity for them. So, in the last budget alone we have provided 80,000 new packages. That's 80,000 Australians who can age at home with dignity and respect.

We've also provided substantial funding to residential aged-care services to help make them sustainable, improving and simplifying residential aged-care services and access. We've also provided significant funding into quality and safety. Now that doesn't just come with funding; it also comes with a lot of new legislation that we have enacted here in this parliament. I'm very proud of the fact that, as a member of parliament—as those on the other side should be—we've introduced things like the Serious Incident Response Scheme to make sure that the accountability for safety in the aged-care sector is front and centre.

A fourth pillar is looking at the workforce. We know that our workforce needs to grow and we need a better skilled care workforce. That is essential, and we need to make sure that the standards remain high and continue to improve. There's a whole lot of legislation that's been introduced, including things like ensuring that aged-care workers get dementia training. We know that about 50 per cent of those in aged care now have dementia, which is an incredible increase over the last few years. It's not because more Australians are necessarily getting dementia; it's just that, of those who are in aged care, a large proportion have comorbidities such as dementia.

In the past aged-care homes used to be nursing homes. Now we talk about aged-care facilities, but in fact what people want is a home but they also want nursing capacities. In some ways we're returning to that idea of being able to provide a hospital in the home for aged-care services. That is an important change to our system, but it's one that needs to be funded. With that, we need to have better governance and we've got new legislation and stronger governance that have been provided in this term of government.

Every year under us home-care packages are up, residential care places are up and aged-care funding is up. The Australian government is delivering a once-in-a-generation change through a total of $18.3 billion to support aged-care reform, and this includes a $17.7 billion package just announced last year. I'm proud that I advocated for this, because I know that it's important to each and every one of us in this parliament.

We are all ageing. We are all going to have to deal with this. Our loved ones are going to have to deal with this, because the alternative is not worth thinking about. I welcome the changes that we've made and the fact that we've invested so heavily in this important sector where we can treat every Australian with dignity and respect.

See this speech in context