Julia Irwin (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One year ago the member for Melbourne moved a private members’ motion that called on the government to use the Council of Australian Governments process to deal with the serious problem faced by the thousands of young Australians living in nursing homes, which cater mainly to the needs of aged persons. The motion was strongly supported by members on both sides of the House, including the members for Shortland, Canning, McPherson, Gorton and Riverina. That motion was timely because, in that same week a year ago, the Council of Australian Governments agreed on a proposal to fund and develop a $244 million program to address the issue of young people in nursing homes.

I note that in that debate the member for Shortland spoke of a report that was leaked before the meeting which commented that expectations should not be raised, because only one in every six young persons in a nursing home would benefit from the program. It is a year later, and only a few of those young people can see any light at the end of the tunnel. For the great majority of the more than 1,000 people under the age of 50 who live in nursing homes, or are under the care of parents, it is a long and cruel wait.

I was reminded of this in the past week when I was contacted by Mrs Marilyn Darling. She and her husband Ashley have provided care for their son Wesley since removing him from a nursing home where the lack of care almost cost Wesley his life. Last year Wesley was able to gain access to two weeks of respite care at a fantastic place: the Dorothy Sales Cottages, in the ACT. This facility is dedicated to the care of young people with acquired brain injury. Wesley’s parents are hoping he can have another two weeks of respite care at Dorothy Sales in March this year. Wesley enjoyed his stay there because he was treated so well, but his parents are concerned that, as residents of New South Wales, they may have to meet the full cost of Wesley’s care from their own pocket. So here we are, a year down the track, and we still have problems with the provision of essential services across state borders. We still have an appalling lack of specialised care for young people who live in nursing homes or who are cared for by dedicated parents.

As part of the young people in nursing homes delegation, Marilyn Darling helped to bring this issue to the attention of parliament a year ago. That is more than enough time to stop the blame shifting between various levels of government and to properly fund programs for the care of these young people. We need to see real progress in order to give hope to young people in need of care. We need that assistance, and they need it now.