Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The Rudd government is committed to tackling the challenges of the 21st century. And one of those major challenges is our ageing population. Australians have the second longest life expectancy in the world, at 81.4 years, after the Japanese. In addition, women on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and in Western Australia’s wheat belt have among the longest life expectancies in the world. By mid-century most Australians can expect, on average, to reach the mid- to late 80s. Currently, there are 2,800 Australians aged 100 years or over, and that is expected to grow to 78,000 by 2055.

An ageing population and record life expectancy are to be celebrated. The previous government neglected older Australians; we plan to change that. That is why, over the next four years, we are investing a record $40 billion into aged and community care; of that, $28.6 billion on nursing homes alone. In 2008-09, $2.2 billion will be spent on community care programs to help people remain independent and in their homes.

Last year nearly 56,000 people received help at home through community care packages. The 56,000 community care packages complement the nearly 170,000 residential aged-care beds supported by the federal government. Meals on Wheels—an example of state and federal governments working together—is one of the many initiatives to help people remain within their homes.

Some 80,000 volunteers and workers deliver about 15 million meals a year from 750 kitchens to the frail, the aged and people with disabilities right across Australia. Indeed, today is National Meals on Wheels Day. I was very pleased to deliver a meal to John and Ruth Perryman right here in the ACT. They are both 85 years of age. Later on today, I look forward to launching the Meals on Wheels Parliamentary Friends Group. It will be chaired by the member for Hindmarsh and the member for Parkes. I commend them on their initiative.

In Australia there are almost 3,000 nursing homes. They are world-class services with thousands of hardworking, dedicated staff. Of those nursing homes, only nine of them are under sanction. Three of those nine were identified through the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency’s unannounced visits program. The record 3,000 unannounced visits began on 1 July. We make no apologies for protecting our nation’s frail and aged. Indeed, unannounced visits are commonplace in Australia. For example, last year ACT Health alone conducted 1,984 food business inspections and 225 cooling tower inspections in Canberra. I can tell you, as a former police officer, I certainly know the element of surprise was a major factor in effective investigations.

Also, in the commercial area, McDonalds has a strict regime of testing, unannounced visits and so-called ‘mystery shoppers’. They evaluate cleanliness, quality and service. Unannounced visits are even more important in aged care where frail, elderly residents are cared for 24 hours a day and are often unable to speak out if they have concerns about their care. Unannounced visits give an accurate picture of a facility’s day-to-day operation.

From 1 July to 14 August, the accreditation agency and the Department of Health and Ageing have conducted 501 and 178 unannounced visits respectively. In the case of a nursing home where serious risk has been identified, the accreditation agency visits daily until the serious risk has been removed. The Department of Health and Ageing will also send Commonwealth nursing officers to monitor the quality of care being given to residents.

The accreditation agency has a set of at-risk factors to identify nursing homes for further unannounced visits. They include:

• existing non-compliance problems in any of the areas of the 44 standards, including nutrition and hydration;
• the number of complaints against a facility;
• the known financial difficulties or business restructuring;
• a change of approved provider;
• major changes in key personnel and senior staff;
• ambitious building programs; and
• a sudden change in resident population and mix of residents.

The accreditation agency will undertake a program of unannounced visits across entire groups of homes where they need to determine if problems are localised and site specific or systemic across the group. This recently occurred with the Japara Group after the Kirralee facility in East Ballarat was identified in an unannounced visit. At Kirralee, the accreditation agency assessors identified five areas of serious risk, including nutrition and hydration. The Department of Health and Ageing advised that the measures were ‘among the strongest ever taken against a care provider’ by this government.

After the agency found significant noncompliance at Kirralee, it conducted a program of unannounced visits to all other homes in the 32-member group. As a result, the agency uncovered significant concerns in relation to another home in the group—Brighton Aged Care in Adelaide. On Monday night, 25 August, the agency acted. The agency reduced the accreditation period of Brighton Aged Care in Adelaide as an outcome of a review audit conducted in early August.

The accreditation agency has formally identified 17 areas of noncompliance out of 44 accreditation outcomes arising from the review audit. This, indeed, is a staggering figure. Previously, on 15 August, the department issued a notice setting out the actions that the home must take to address the original 14 areas of noncompliance and the timeline in which this must be done. The department will now consider whether additional compliance action is required given the agency’s decision of 25 August.

These unannounced visits are all about the health, safety and wellbeing of residents, and I make no apologies for these tough measures. I also urge the opposition to give their bipartisan support to unannounced visits. I am confident that the aged-care industry and the many older Australians it serves will see the longer-term benefits of a more transparent and accountable aged-care industry. I will continue to work in partnership with older Australians, aged-care providers, unions and consumer groups to improve the quality in residential aged care and ensure the long-term viability of the sector.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the member for McPherson to speak for seven minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent Mrs May speaking for a period not exceeding seven minutes.

Question agreed to.

Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unfortunately, there is nothing in what the Minister for Ageing has put on the record today that she has not said on previous occasions. In fact, the content of the ministerial statement today condemns the minister. There appears to be a belief in her office that generating a flurry of media releases and ministerial statements that say nothing new will fix the aged-care system. It is a dangerous approach because the aged-care system is at crisis point.

Today the minister has talked about unannounced visits to aged-care facilities, but let us set the record straight. Unannounced visits were initiated under the Howard government, along with a number of other initiatives, such as accreditation and certification, to ensure that Australia had a world-class aged-care system. That system is being eroded because of the performance of the Rudd government and the minister. The minister continuously attacks the industry at every opportunity and overlooks the fact that it is her approach, her penchant for announcing reviews and her inaction, that is doing serious damage to older Australians.

I remind the minister that people in the aged-care industry, the dedicated workers and care providers, have the welfare of residents as a priority; otherwise, they would not be in the business. A large percentage of providers are charities whose vision is to provide a strong, sustainable aged and community care industry providing people with high-quality, accessible services that meet their needs. Yet the minister undermines them and aged care workers at every opportunity.

This ministerial statement is a typical example of the Rudd government. It is an empty ministerial statement. It contains nothing new. As mentioned previously, unannounced visits were initiated by the Howard government. In March of this year the minister said she was going to increase the number of visits from 4,000 to 7,000 visits. But that is where the minister is misleading. The 7,000 visits are a combination of announced and unannounced visits, so it is not an increase of 3,000 unannounced visits. When the department was asked in Senate estimates whether more staff would be employed to undertake the increased visits, the reply that came back was that no extra staff would be put on to undertake the increased number of visits. I ask the minister to explain how the number of visits can almost double and yet the staff members stay the same. Is this part of the new productivity push or a push to burn workers out? It just does not add up.

I believe the media releases that the minister puts out are an attempt to disguise numerous failings and are a reflection of the chaotic way the Rudd government is running the country. The sooner it sinks in that our ageing population is the biggest social challenge that Australia and the world faces, the better. The sooner people grasp the enormity of the challenges we face, the better, because I think people will live their own lives in a more sustainable way.

The Governor-General said at his farewell dinner last night that his vision for Australia is for a caring Australia—first and foremost taking care of one’s health and wellbeing and caring for others. We all need to take better care of ourselves because, with demographic change, increased life expectancy, declining fertility rates and such things as costly technological advances and a reduced workforce, living standards will fall quite dramatically and Australians are not prepared for that. The aged-care system is unravelling, and this slow disintegration will gain momentum as pressure on the system increases. We are hearing more and more about long waiting lists, difficulties in facilities finding staff, underfunding and undersubscription of places.

The minister says the Rudd government is committed to tackling the challenges of the 21st century and goes on about 12 years of Howard government neglect. I have got news for the minister: constantly repeating something does not make it true. The Howard government did not neglect aged care; we gave priority to the care of older Australians. It does not seem to have registered that it is now up to the Rudd government to meet the challenges of our ageing population. Excuse after excuse, press release after press release, while the system is falling down, does not cut it and will not address the issues facing the aged-care sector in the 21st century.

Aged care is at a crisis point. I use those extreme words with caution, but it is at crisis point. Over 40 per cent of our providers are operating in the red. For the first time beds have been undersubscribed in Tasmania and Western Australia. Beds are being closed down, and decisions are being made at a board level not to make application for beds. Waiting lists are getting longer, more and more compliance is being heaped on providers, and the system is buckling under the strain. How can older Australians receive the care they deserve if facilities are understaffed and underfunded? It is about time the Rudd government woke up to the seriousness of the situation and started governing in the best interests of all Australians, including older Australians, not just working families—whatever that means. Going by what comes out of the minister’s office, I suspect her office reflects the dysfunction of the Prime Minister’s office, and this dysfunction is affecting the welfare of older Australians.

We are already in August, and the 2008 aged-care assessment round has not even commenced. The process is usually well under way by now. But the minister has dragged her feet, leaving thousands of Australians waiting for beds either in their home or in a hospital. One night in a hospital bed costs $1,117, compared to $100 in an aged-care facility.

In closing, the welfare of older Australians is paramount. I applaud any initiative that protects older Australians. I detest, though, empty statements that have no relevance and do nothing to meet the challenges of our ageing population. There are no two ways about it; the ageing of our population is the biggest social challenge that Australia has ahead of it. We must address those challenges; otherwise the wellbeing of older Australians is at serious risk.