Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The ageing of the population, which is happening relatively rapidly at the present time, is one of the most significant demographic changes that have occurred historically. It's a significant achievement because of a number of factors, including the great improvements in sanitation in countries like Australia and elsewhere around the world a century ago; the huge improvements in maternal and child health, again from about a century ago—tragically, in the past so many women giving birth died in childbirth, or children died in childbirth or soon after; and then, of course, in the second half of last century the rapid advances in medication, in surgery and in the development of pharmaceuticals.

The ageing of the population is a very significant human achievement, but it also brings with it many challenges. Obviously there will be impact on the workforce in future years from the fact that, comparatively speaking, there will be fewer workers than there are dependants because there will be many more people of old age who have left the work force. There will be impact on the healthcare system at both a Commonwealth level and a state and territory level in this country. Finally, there's the impact in terms of aged care.

We see that over a period of some two decades there will be a doubling of the number, and indeed the proportion, of people over 65 in this country. Indeed, the fastest growing cohort of the population currently are people aged 80 and above. It's estimated, for example, that by 2040 there will be something like 40,000 Australians aged 100 years and over, and by 2050 that number will have exceeded 50,000 Australians. So these are significant challenges in relation to the population generally.

I was pleased in this context to visit and participate in the opening of a new wing of Willowbrae aged-care home, one of the new, modern aged-care homes in my electorate. I recall that, when I first came to this place, I think there were only 200 aged-care places in the whole of my electorate. When you think about the numbers that will be required in the future, you can see that there's been a rapid change in the aged-care population, and this is something which will need to grow in the future regardless of who happens to be in government here in Canberra.

I also welcome, in this context, the new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, which is to operate from 1 January 2019. It's there to enhance and protect the quality of life, safety, health and wellbeing of people in aged care, whether they're in aged-care homes residentially or they're receiving aged care within the community. This is a significant reform and one of the ongoing reforms which have been driven by the current Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, Ken Wyatt. I congratulate him in that regard.