Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge that the member for Casey was not a member of the previous government; however, it is a bold move to propose any motion based on the record of the previous government. And yet here we are again, this time on aged care. So let's look at the record of those opposite on aged care. Having overseen aged care at a time when there was a scathing royal commission, such that even the interim report was called Neglect, to now trump their performance is quite breathtaking hubris. So what did the royal commission say about the Home Care Package system under their watch?

It is particularly challenging when an older person is deemed eligible for a Home Care Package, because they must first wait in the national prioritisation queue before a package of services is 'assigned', and then they must find a service provider to deliver their care. That can all take a very long time, especially for those who have higher care and support needs. Once someone is assessed as needing the highest level of care, a Level 4 Home Care Package, they can wait for a year and often longer for the Package to become a reality.

That was for a level 4 package. We now know that for some of the lower level packages under those opposite the waits could be up to three years. The waitlist under those opposite blew out to 129,000 people, double what it is now.

Now, under this government, people assessed as high-priority are typically receiving their package within a month. That's three years under them compared to one month under us. Returning to the royal commission's report:

Such waiting times would be unacceptable in any other system, but are common in home care today.

Of course, by 'today' they're referring to the time of writing the interim report. There is:

… no mechanism to follow up with people who are on waiting lists to give them updates, including about whether they have progressed up the waiting list or how long it will be before a Package is available. In the interim, there is a clear and present danger of declining function, inappropriate hospitalisation, carer burnout and premature institutionalisation because necessary services are not provided. We—

being the royal commission—

have been alarmed to find that many people die while waiting for a Home Care Package. Others prematurely move into residential care.

By any measure, this is a cruel and discriminatory system, which places great strain on older Australians and their relatives. It is unfair. Older people should receive the home care services they need to live safely at home … It is shocking that the express wishes of older people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible, with the supports they need, is downplayed with an expectation that they will manage. It is unsafe practice. It is neglect.

That was the verdict of the royal commission on aged care regarding aged-care services under their watch. At the time we were elected they had implemented very few of the recommendations from the royal commission. This government has been focused on implementing all the recommendations. And make no bones about it: it's difficult, it takes time and it takes money. The previous government acted on aged care and funded extra packages only after they had allowed the system and older Australians to get to breaking point.

So, that was the situation of neglect that the Albanese Labor government inherited, and we've been working to implement all the recommendations. One important thing we've done is provide a wage rise for aged-care workers. We want people to think of aged care as the valuable, skilled, long-term, rewarding career option that it is. We want to attract and retain the best workers. The additional $200 a week that aged-care workers now earn is a significant step towards achieving this. This is a significant way to address the delays in being able to access services by having more workers in the sector, having workers who are higher skilled, and keeping them.

In the upcoming budget we're funding an additional 24,100 home care packages, bringing the number of people being supported by aged-care packages to a record 300,000. This is expected to bring the wait times down to an average of six months. We're also reforming the assessment system with a single streamlined assessment and a new evidence based assessment tool backed up by ICT infrastructure.

This government is getting on with the job of fixing the aged-care system that was left behind by those opposite—one characterised by the royal commission as 'neglect'. This private member's bill is an exercise in trying to rewrite history.

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