Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The closure of a 14-bed dementia care unit in Lisarow and a 110-bed aged-care facility in Wyoming is distressing news for families in my New South Wales Central Coast electorate of Dobell. The imminent closure of the Henry Kendall Aged Care facility in Wyoming and the 14-bed dementia unit at The Orchards in Lisarow is unsettling for residents and their carers and families. The Morrison government's failure to meet the demand for home care packages and the shortage of aged-care beds mean those needing residential care, particularly in crisis, may have little or no choice.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is shining a light on poor practices in residential aged care. The health and welfare of elderly residents, their families and carers must be paramount. In demanding best practice from aged-care providers—which we must—we must also demand real action from this government. The Morrison government has failed to fix the crisis in home care packages, failed to give the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission adequate powers to keep residents safe and cut $2 billion in funding from the aged-care system. Those cuts, made by then Treasurer Scott Morrison, have left some residential aged-care providers, many in regional and remote communities, struggling to stay afloat. Without proper funding, more closures are likely.

Sadly, at least one elderly couple has already been separated by the closure of the dementia unit at the Orchards. The couple purchased a low-care unit in the belief they could move to a high level of care if and when they needed it. Their granddaughter Haley let me know her grandmother had settled into the dementia care unit when her family was informed over the phone that the unit would be closing in October and they'd need to find alternative accommodation for their grandmother. Her grandfather still lives at the Orchards and the family could afford the $500,000 bond to move their grandmother into another facility; however, the distance between the facilities makes visits for the couple very difficult. Haley is very concerned and said, 'We are worried that if my grandfather starts to show the same symptoms we will need to find him a new home too.'

The closure of aged-care facilities is a concern as we have an ageing population on the Central Coast and a shortage of beds, particularly for those living with dementia. Providers need to understand that moving an elderly resident, particularly at this time in their life, is like kicking them out of their own home. The health, relationship, and financial consequences can be devastating for the elderly residents, their families and carers.

I speak here today as the patron of the Central Coast Dementia Alliance and as someone whose father lived with dementia. This is urgent. It's a crisis. And this government must act now. They need to act urgently and properly care for elderly Australians.