Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Werriwa for her question. I know that she cares very deeply about ensuring that we support aged-care workers in providing the best care for older people in her electorate.

Australia's aged-care workforce is the foundation of the ambitious change that we are delivering for the sector. For too long, aged-care workers were underpaid, and they were undervalued. Finally, those workers have a government that cares for them as they care for our vulnerable. We stood beside workers in their fight for better wages. As a result, they were awarded the largest-ever increase to award wages in a work value case at the Fair Work Commission—a 15 per cent increase to award wage minimums for 250,000 workers across the country, an $11.3 billion commitment. For a nurse like Julie at Loreto Nursing Home in Townsville, this means up to $10,000 more a year. For a personal care worker like Regina at Arcare Nirvana in Malvern East, it means up to $7,300 more every year. That is life-changing money. And those are not my words; those are the words of Sharon, an aged-care manager at Uniting Care in Weston. The pay rise isn't the only life-changing reform that we have implemented and delivered in aged care.

We have delivered increased transparency so that taxpayers can see where their money is being spent. We have delivered star ratings to help older people make informed choices about their own care. We have delivered a new funding model to better match care funding with the needs of older people. We have delivered an expanded Serious Incident Response Scheme to help keep older people safe and an independent pricing authority to ensure that the sector is getting the funding that they need to deliver quality care. We have delivered more carers with more time to care, and we have put nurses back into nursing homes 24/7, and we did it a year ahead of schedule.

We are working on more than 100 reform projects that we have on foot at the moment. These reforms are having a real and tangible impact on the ground. In the past year, there has been a reduction in the number of pressure injuries, a reduction in significant unplanned weight loss, a reduction in falls, a reduction in the use of antipsychotics and a reduction in the use of physical restraints.

Those opposite sat on their hands for more than a decade while they watched older people and the people that care for them struggle and suffer. The people on this side of the House have been delivering in 18 months for those same people, getting results for those people. That is what Labor governments do. (Time expired)

See this speech in context