Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week was an amazing week for aged care in the Goulburn Valley in the seat of Murray. We had an announcement through the National Stronger Regions Fund, which is headed by Fiona Nash, that a fraction under $1 million will be provided for the Warramunda aged-care facility in Kyabram. This injection of funds is going to contribute to a nearly $10 million build in the town of Kyabram that will allow a new 22-bed dementia wing to be built to provide much needed additional places. This facility is also going to be a major driver of building investment in the region. It will be a real boost to that community. It is also going to provide necessary administration space and will house a new home-care business as well.

It was tremendous to see so many of the staff there. They are genuinely excited that this announcement has come through. This announcement was the final funding piece that the community was waiting for. The staff there were incredibly excited, as were the residents, who were very keen to see their facility have the capacity to grow. The board members were also there, as were the very proud volunteers that get in and help in and around Warramunda each and every week.

Later in the week I had the opportunity to invite Ken Wyatt, the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, to Echuca to attend a forum that we were able to hold with aged-care providers. We had about 28 representatives from around 19 different organisations or aged-care providers. It was great to be able to have Minister Wyatt there, with his capacity to understand and to empathise with a whole raft of issues that were raised by some of the providers—namely, the importance of maintaining facilities in smaller communities for the wellbeing of patients so they are able to go into residential places in close proximity to their families and, certainly, to the community network that they have grown up knowing and loving. Also, what these residential aged-care facilities mean in relation to the economy of some of our smaller communities is critically important. Quite often some of these facilities are the largest employers in some of our small towns.

It was also important to be able to talk through areas such as not only attracting quality staff but also shining a spotlight on the training that goes into some of our aged-care providers and making sure that their training is of a high quality and not just a course that may be acquired online. I think we are all now aware that residents who come into our aged-care facilities at a later stage have been able to stay at home through a large portion of their frailties. Again, this was an area where Minister Wyatt was able to assist and help. He communicated very calmly and very evenly with the aged-care providers, who were incredibly appreciative of his input and his ability to understand exactly the work that they are doing.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Fiona Nash and the National Stronger Regions Fund for the injection she was able to provide into Warramunda and for the amazing work that will be able to continue in the community of Kyabram. I also want to thank Assistant Minister Ken Wyatt for meeting with so many passionate aged-care providers to talk with them about the issues that they all shared and to provide a shared vision and a way forward. I think we all understand, especially members representing rural and regional electorates, that the aged-care issue is going to be more and more problematic in all of our smaller towns—and even in some of our larger ones—as a whole raft of baby boomers need to enter aged-care facilities in the next five, 10 or 15 years. We understand that, as our individual aged-care residents get older, a greater percentage of those residents will be suffering from dementia. A whole raft of additional pressures are going to be placed on this sector, and it is great to have someone like Ken Wyatt who has an understanding of the issues and is able to meet with all of those providers on a regular basis.

Question agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 12:47