Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, and I refer to his previous answer where he denied blaming the new Prime Minister for hurting the aged-care sector with a $1.2 billion cut. If it wasn't the now Prime Minister's fault, exactly which person in the government was responsible for cutting $1.2 billion from aged care?

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Franklin for her question. I apologise for not acknowledging you in my answer to your previous question, but the question you ask is inaccurate. We have continued to increase funding from $13.1 billion to $18.6 billion, then another $5 billion to $23.6 billion, and we are continuing to undertake work in respect of ACFI. ACFI has served the sector well. The funding instrument was capped at a time in which there were claims that were much higher than the trajectory, and all governments have a responsibility to live within their means and within the budget that's established. We have not cut, because we have continued to grow the ACFI level of funding over the forward estimates and it will continue to grow. The new RUCS program we are working on with the University of Wollongong will provide a better instrument for assessing people. As you heard in the Four Corners program, by their own admission, staff were told to game the instrument. The RUCS will go to aspects of quality of care, complex care conditions, dementia and mental health needs.