Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion that has been brought by the member for Jagajaga regarding the aged-care sector. All Australians want and expect our older Australians to be well supported and cared for in our community, including and particularly in residential aged-care homes. The opposition remains committed to supporting the health, safety and wellbeing of older Australians and understands the important role of healthcare providers, care workers and nurses play in ensuring that support is provided in the residential aged-care settings.

I was listening to the honourable member talking about her experiences with her grandparents. I can even remember being taken to see my great-grandmother many, many years ago. At that stage it was in a facility in Sydney, and she was in one room with seven other women, and they were taken out of bed each morning, put on a chair and left there for the entire day. I was a very little girl at the time, but I still have that visual. I am most relieved that these days we are providing technology and our understanding of aged care has moved on so that we are no longer treating our elderly as if they are patients in a hospital—I think that's probably the best way of putting it. A long time after that, my mother's mum, my nanna, also in an aged-care facility towards the end of her life. She did receive very good care, but I could see firsthand the experiences of the aged-care workers and how under-resourced and overworked they were.

In my electorate of Hughes, I have over 15 aged-care facilities that offer just over 1,600 residential places. I take this opportunity to thank everybody within my electorate who works within the aged-care sector, whether they be the doctors, nurses, cleaners, cooks or the helpers. I particularly acknowledge those who are working in some of the higher needs facilities, particularly in dementia and Alzheimer's wards. The work that they are doing in those facilities to provide quality of life to our elderly in their last stage—to provide them with stimulation and activities to keep them engaged—is phenomenal work. I recently visited HammondCare over in Hammondville, St Vincent's Aged Care Heathcote as well as IRT Thomas Holt Kirrawee Aged Care Centre and Catholic Healthcare Percy Miles Villa at Kirrawee. Again, I say thank you to everybody, particularly in my electorate, who is working in those facilities.

The Albanese Labor government has sought to act on some of the recommendations that have come out of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. There were some very shocking findings that came out of that. Unfortunately, while the minister said she would put the care back into aged care, instead, we have had a number of aged-care homes close under the minister's watch. One, in particular, Wesley Vikery Sylvania, was very close to me—just outside my electorate—and is where many from my electorate had moved to live. So I think that there is still far more work that the government needs to do and that the minister needs to do.

The policy of having a 24/7 nurse in every facility is a beautiful dream. It is aspirational, but it simply has not worked, and we've seen that with the closure of these facilities, amongst other things. Again, I commend all of those in the aged-care sector. (Time expired)

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