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

by leave—Members of this chamber will recall that on 22 September the Australian government announced details of a plan to improve the long-term quality of Indigenous aged care. That plan includes setting for the first time an independent set of quality standards applied to the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flexible aged-care program services and a $46.2 million program to support care staff and management, provide locum relief and improve facilities as well as carry out emergency works.

In addition, the government also announced an independent assessment into the Department of Health and Ageing’s handling of the Docker River flexible Aboriginal aged-care service. On 14 June 2007, Dulcie Brumby, 70, an Indigenous resident with dementia living at Docker River flexible aged-care, died as a result of severe burns after falling into an open pit fire. This was an appalling tragedy, and I again express my condolences to the Brumby family. The independent assessment is now underway and I understand the Aged Care Commissioner, Ms Rhonda Parker, has already visited Docker River.

In Australia there are 29 nursing homes with a significant Indigenous population and 30 Indigenous-specific flexible services, providing in total about 700 places. The Australian government has recognised the vulnerability of isolated Indigenous-specific aged-care services and the difficulties facing them. We must improve the quality of Indigenous aged care. We want proper care for older Indigenous people, whilst recognising, respecting and maintaining the important cultural requirements. We will continue to consult with and take the advice of Indigenous communities and the Indigenous aged-care sector.

I would also like to take this opportunity to further update the parliament on my plans for improved Indigenous aged care and some recent developments. This week the Australian government will begin to conduct national quality site visits to all 30 flexible Indigenous-specific aged-care services so it can identify safety risks and the need for emergency works. The quality site visits will examine the level of care, overall safety, appropriateness of staffing levels and governance. Early next year the Department of Health and Ageing will work with each service to implement a building and maintenance action plan. In addition, the federal government will fund fire protection devices where elders may gather around traditional open fire pits at Indigenous-specific aged-care services.

On a final note I would like to inform the chamber of a visit last Thursday to the Northern Territory. I visited two Indigenous-specific aged-care services with the federal opposition shadow minister for ageing, the member for McPherson. It was a bipartisan visit. We visited the Kalano flexible aged-care residential service near Katherine and a respite aged-care service at Mutitjulu, near Uluru. We had the privilege to see the services firsthand, meet residents and speak to aged-care workers and volunteers.

The Kalano service provides 18 low-care residential places and the Mutitjulu respite service provides respite for up to 25 older people and 25 carers. At Mutitjulu the older women, speaking in Pitjantjatjara, told me, through an interpreter, about their needs—and we will be responding to those needs. The visit was about listening and learning and seeing how to improve the services. I hope that we will continue to work together with the opposition on Indigenous aged care.

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

Leave granted.

I move:

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

Question agreed to.

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

As the House has heard from the Minister for Ageing in her ministerial statement on Indigenous aged care, we did undertake a bipartisan visit to the Northern Territory last week and our trip encompassed visits to the Kalano flexible aged-care residential service, which is just outside Katherine, and a respite aged-care service at Mutitjulu, in the shadow of Uluru. I put on the record that both site visits were extremely beneficial, I think, for both the minister and me. I think the trip was important for many reasons. But for me, more than anything else, it was an opportunity to look and see, to listen to and engage with the local staff and particularly with the residents and volunteers, and to understand, more importantly, what happens in these aged-care facilities and what we can do to ensure that appropriate aged care is delivered to Indigenous Australians.

At Kalano I had the opportunity of talking to two women who are aged-care workers there and are obviously dedicated to the roles they were undertaking at the aged-care service. Both had been at the service for around 10 years and both, interestingly enough, had undertaken certificate III in aged care. They were extremely proud of that education and what they had achieved. I would say to the minister that when she is looking at programs for the future, particularly in Indigenous aged care, she should look at some of those education programs that will ensure we deliver the best in aged care. One of those women is also undertaking some further studies in dementia care. I think that augurs very well for Kalano and the sort of service they can deliver.

At Mutitjulu we had the opportunity of talking to Helen Sadler and her staff from Frontier Services—they run the respite service there. We discussed the challenges and the issues of providing care for the Indigenous people at Mutitjulu, recognising also the remoteness of the community and what can be delivered on site. I had the opportunity, as did the minister, of talking to Judy Trigger, who is Chair of the Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation. Judy spoke to us through an interpreter. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to her, as I am sure the minister would, for her honesty and candour when discussing the challenges and the needs of her community, in particular the needs of the elderly women who access that respite service on a daily basis at Mutitjulu.

I am delighted today to hear that the minister is going to respond to those concerns and the issues that were raised with both her and me. I think it is important in situations like this that we put aside our differences. The minister and I do have our differences on occasion, but I think overall we would both say that both visits were extremely beneficial to both of us. On a bipartisan level we are both committed to ensuring we deliver optimum aged care to Indigenous Australians. I welcome the site visits that the minister has announced today and I hope that, once those site visits have been completed, any safety risks that need action or emergency works that are needed in those aged-care facilities will be undertaken by the government. She has my full support to undertake that work. I thank her today for extending to me the opportunity to visit the Northern Territory with her last week. It was a great opportunity for both of us and I will endeavour to work with her in the future to deliver some really good outcomes for Indigenous Australians.