Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Jane Grundy provides at-home care for elderly people in my electorate of Macquarie. She's been in parliament today to explain to MPs just how important getting improvements in funding for home care is. She's here with other members of the HSU and United Voice, who provide care in-home and in aged-care facilities. They think it's our turn to care, and they're right. I've also met with members of the Nurses and Midwives' Association, who are so worried about standards in aged care that they want to see ratios in aged care. I support their call. All these people who work in aged care are feeling desperate about the current situation, and what the future might hold.

For those waiting for at-home care, the latest data we have—from way back in December—tells us that more than 100,000 people are on the waiting list. Yet, in the budget the government has offered a measly 14,000 extra packages, but no new money. Data which was released after the budget shows that nearly 300 people are on the national prioritisation queue. They've been waiting there for more than two years, and that's just to get care in their homes. In this budget, there is not a cent more in the forward estimates for aged care, so none of it is new money. That means this budget has been a giant hoax on elderly Australians. As Jane Grundy made the point today, 'If you judge the success of a government on how it treats the vulnerable elderly people in the society it serves, this is a fail.'