Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 amends the Aged Care Act 1997 to reflect a budget measure to reprioritise the aged care workforce supplement, introduced under Labor's Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package. The previous Labor government introduced the workforce supplement as part of Living Longer Living Better to address workforce pay and conditions for some of the lowest paid workers in our country. These workers are scattered from Coolangatta to the cape; they are in northern Australia, in Tasmania—all over Australia we have aged care workers doing great service to our elderly.

These workers who do essential work caring for our seniors turn out to be some of our most vulnerable people. The government's decision, this despicable money grab, is a huge blow to the 350,000 workers in the aged care sector—workers like Heather. I want to give you an example of the sort of people we are talking about. Heather works for Blue Care as a personal carer. Prior to the change of government in September last year she was looking forward to receiving this 1.25 per cent boost to a wage that is, some would argue, very meagre; certainly I am yet to meet anyone in the aged-care sector who is living a life of luxury. It is a tough job. This supplement to her income would have made a huge difference for Heather. These jobs are physically demanding jobs—bathing people, feeding seniors or cleaning their houses. It is not only a physically-demanding job, it is also very emotionally draining. That is the nature of the job that people like Heather do.

Sadly, because of the change in government, the LNP government has decided not to let this wage increase flow through to people like Heather. I would point out that these physically-demanding jobs may be okay for someone in their 20s but these jobs get tougher and tougher by the time you are in your 30s and 40s, especially now the coalition government has said that Heather will have to work until she is 70. The physical demands of jobs like this make them particularly difficult for people like Heather.

This decision by the coalition government is a huge blow to Heather and her 350,000 co-workers. With this bill, the government has failed to meet the demands of the aged-care workforce—demands that need to be met immediately. There are particular challenges in the aged-care sector. It is coming under increasing pressure as a result of demographic, social and economic changes. In the early seventies, 31 per cent of our population was aged 15 or younger, with only eight per cent aged over 65. Jump forward a few decades to the turn of the century and the proportion of the population aged over 65 had increased to about 13 per cent. Now, one in five Australians are over 65 and that percentage will continue to increase.

Our population is ageing and, sadly, beginning to do so quite rapidly. While I am always an optimist, you cannot hide from the fact that an ageing society creates challenges. According to the Productivity Commission, by 2050 we will need one million aged-care workers. There is no hope of building that workforce from the current 350,000 to one million unless the problems of inadequate wages and unrealistic workloads are fixed. Turnover in the aged-care industry now runs at 25 to 45 per cent annually. This is a crisis. It is estimated the cost of that between now and 2050 will be $5.39 billion.

Labor had allocated $1.2 billion to address these issues in the aged-care sector through the aged-care workforce supplement. It was effectively a 1.25 per cent boost for people like Heather. But this workforce supplement was going to deliver pay rises for some 350,000 aged-care workers. I stress that these are people who earn very little as it is—nurses who are paid less than their colleagues, who are similarly trained, in the hospitals down the road. These are people who are dedicated to caring for the elderly—for our parents and one day, hopefully, for us. That is the reality of the human brief.

The supplement the Labor Party brought in was also designed to improve pay and conditions—to enhance training so that there would be a better career path and subsequent career structure for those working in the sector. With this physically-demanding and emotionally draining job, and the realities of the human body, it is important to have career structures which mean that experience can stay in the sector rather than people having to leave because they are too frail to do their job.

The supplement was in the process of being rolled out to people like Heather. Sadly only two national aged-care providers had signed up when the member for Warringah was elected back in September last year and decided to take us all back to 1962. The supplement was aimed at addressing a growing need for workers in the sector because of that high turnover of staff, the low pay and poor conditions and the need for increasing numbers to care for more senior Australians in the future. Approved aged-care providers that signed up agreed to a pay increase of 2.75 per cent with the government providing an additional one per cent, giving workers a 3.75 per cent pay increase over all. Only a few had signed up and my understanding is none in Queensland had, so Heather has not been able to access this.

When I think of someone like Heather and the hard work she does caring for senior Australians, I particularly condemn this despicable, heartless act. Nevertheless, if the government is committed to doing this—to making Heather's life a bit more miserable—the government needs to ensure these recovered funds are utilised and pumped back into the sector so that conditions improve and stronger career paths develop for people like Heather. Decisions to provide inadequate wages will undermine the quality of services for our youngest and oldest Australians, with workers forced to leave the sector as a result of low wages. There is often a disconnect—people go into the sector, then find there is no pathway by which they could save up enough money to maybe buy a home. It is not dissimilar to what we see in the early childhood sector. In fact, if you compare it with our early education system, the aged-care sector has many of those same struggles. They cannot attract and retain a quality workforce even though training has to be provided. That is dead money for employers, basically, because they have to train people up to meet certain workplace health and safety standards and when there is such a turnover that is an extra red-tape cost to business. We need to do more to ensure that older Australians get the high standard of care that is their right. These are people who have paid taxes and fought through World War II and other battles on our behalf. We should be doing all we can to support them.

Sadly, this aged-care system we currently have in Australia was designed for another era—that golden year of 1962 the Prime Minister seems to be fixated on. We are now living in a modern Australia in 2014 and we need to be fair dinkum about how we support people in aged-care facilities and in their homes. Too often older people and their carers are missing out on the support they need and deserve to help them live at home or they have no choice but to move into residential care when they do not need to. Often this means they are removed from their family and friends at a time when they need them most. I have seen it often enough at the aged-care facilities in my electorate when talking to people. I will say, 'Why are you here?' and they tell me that they have to take whatever position is available, and often that has meant leaving behind their friends, family and community—all those things that nourish us and make us happy citizens.

This coalition government has failed to consult with the aged-care sector. If they had, they would have discovered that too many aged-care workers are leaving the industry because their work is undervalued and underpaid, and then the employers are having to pay dead money to train new employees to replace the ones who have gone off seeking more money. If the coalition government had consulted with the aged-care sector, they would have discovered the severe negative impact of axing the $653 million aged-care payroll tax supplement. On top of this, the government failed to consult with or inform the aged-care sector on the axing of the dementia and severe behaviour supplement until after the 2014 budget. There was no mention of it before the election but then it was cruelly rolled out, and it was a complete surprise to those people who do have dementia and who have relied on that money. Despite the promise before the election from this 'no surprises' so-called adult government, they have surprised us every single day and they certainly have not demonstrated that they can claim to be adults. It is more like they aspire to be juveniles.

The increasing prevalence of dementia and other age-related chronic illnesses is projected to result in growing demand for complex aged-care services. At the same time, a relative fall in the number of informal carers as people become more insular will result in older Australians being more reliant on the formal aged-care system for the care and support they need. Dementia is both a public health challenge and a social issue. Many commentators have warned that there is a huge wave of trouble and challenges coming our way. There is an urgent need to address not only the conditions of workers in the industry but also the quality of dementia care within residential aged-care facilities. We need to ensure that the basic human rights of people with dementia are protected.

Improved quality will not come via decreasing conditions. If you look at any workplace or any sector, lowering wages will not—almost as an economic rule—increase productivity; that is not an economic reality. A consumer's report from Alzheimer's Australia 2012 stated that aged-care facilities often do not have the staff or the training to provide quality care to individuals with high needs such as those with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Having had meetings with my dementia support group in Sunnybank, I know how incredibly hard that journey is, particularly when the person you love is there but as a husk of that person with none of the attributes that drew you to love that person in the first place.

The dementia and severe behaviours supplement was paid to approved aged-care providers to assist with the additional costs of caring for people with severe behavioural and psychological symptoms associated with dementia. The coalition government has irresponsibly axed this payment.

It is a refrain that many people on this side of the chamber have mentioned, but I will say it again: the Australian people were not told about these cuts going into the 2013 election but then the cuts were cruelly delivered, as part of that most horrible budget—surely the most horrific budget visited upon the people of Australia. It is a budget attacking the very core of what makes this nation a great nation, by attacking principles of equity and opportunity for all. The Australian people, at the next election, will not let it happen.

Every year I host a number of seniors' forums across my electorate. In the past few weeks I have hosted forums at Sunnybank Hills State School, at Annerley in the Marymac Community Hall and at Oxley in the Oxley community sports club. I especially thank Lindsay Hill and his crew from Oxley for looking after the seniors that were there. Constituents came from across Moreton and many raised concerns about the need for improved focus on the aged-care industry and services as people start to contemplate what it will mean for them. I had some lawyers there talking about making individual decisions, and also there was a big need for people to talk about aged-care facilities. Sadly, the member for Blair could not come along because he had fallen over and broken his wrist. He will have to come to the next one and speak in more detail.

My constituents raised concerns about the lies told by the Liberal and National parties going into the 2013 election. People are fearful that as our population ages their children and grandchildren will not receive adequate care when they reach the stage in their lives where they will require aged-care services. This is why Labor is concerned with the redirection of the $1.1 billion workforce supplement funds. We need to attract workers to the sector to meet the growing demand. By ignoring these needs this coalition government could put the future of aged care in very difficult circumstances.

While the extension of the funding is welcome, the funds will now be given directly to providers with no conditions or guarantees that it will support workers through pay increases, improved conditions or professional and career development. Only Labor has a positive plan to ensure the best care for older Australians, to substantially increase aged-care places and to build a stronger aged-care system with more choice and easier access. Preparing our aged-care system for the future requires continued vigilance and political will—which the government sadly lacks—and real investments, not just hollow words. While Labor supports the continued rollout of our Living Longer Living Better reforms and the aspects of them that have been usurped by those opposite, we will continue to hold this government to account to help ensure that all older Australians get the strong and sustainable aged-care system that they deserve.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendment be agreed to.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, given the hour, and given that I only have about a minute to go before the adjournment—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can assure the members opposite that I am quite keen to make my contribution on the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, but, given that the members who are speaking in the adjournment debate are already in the chamber, I seek leave continue my remarks, perhaps next week when the debate resumes.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.