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

I'd like talk about a constituent of mine, Mr George Howard. George is 85 years old. He's a very proud Tasmanian who's worked all of his life. He has a house and a garden that he truly loves in the suburb of Risdon Vale. He first contacted my office on 6 November about his level 2 home care package. He is a keen gardener and, despite his and his son's best efforts to make things safe for him in the garden, he is unable to access his garden now because of mobility issues. Given he can't access his garden and he's now confined to the inside of his home, he's extremely sad about the current situation. Mr Howard approached the service provider of his aged-care package to undertake some minimal home modifications—a bit of ramping and some handrails—but was told he couldn't access these alterations because of the level of package that he's on.

My office contacted My Aged Care on Mr Howard's behalf and, through the process, he was contacted for an ACAT assessment to take place. He then received a phone call to say that the assessment would take three months—just for a reassessment. This was a bit of shock to Mr Howard, that his reassessment would take such a long period of time. I went out and spoke to Mr Howard and had a visit with him in his home. He very proudly showed me his lovely home and garden and what he'd been able to do. But he also showed me the difficulties he had walking up and down his steep driveway and the steps he had to manoeuvre up and down to get to his beloved backyard. He admitted he'd had multiple falls in that garden. He also revealed that he receives much help from his family, friends and neighbours. His very kind neighbour makes his bed for him most days and helps him to take the washing off the line—it is located down the back of the yard, which he can't access. He contacted my office again this week to say that he has now had an assessment and he has been approved for a level 3 package, which is great news—except, of course, like the 120,000 older Australians who are waiting for their approved home care packages, he is not sure exactly when he is going to receive the assistance he needs. We know that the average wait time for a higher level package, such as his level 3 package, is around 22 months. I hope that Mr Howard, being 85 and having mobility issues and having to go into hospital soon for quite a big operation, doesn't have to wait quite that long.

In regard to the home modifications Mr Howard has requested—it is ramps to his backyard—these were not approved. However, some work is going to be undertaken to his driveway and his front porch so that it will be easy for him to move around the front of his much-loved home. This has been a very stressful and emotional situation for Mr Howard. I was very glad to have the opportunity personally to meet with him and talk about it, but his emotions were on his sleeve. He was really, really distressed about what has been happening to him. He is really distressed that he has to fight to get the things that should be easy and that he is entitled to.

When you hear Mr Howard's story you can see just how important it is that we respond properly to the royal commission's interim report. You can see why we on this side of the House are so concerned about what is happening to aged care in this country. Even with the announcement earlier this week—which I spoke about in this place yesterday—of 10,000 home care packages, with just 5,500 coming up in December, Mr Howard is not going to get his home care package any time soon. He is not going to get the level 3 package any sooner after the government's announcement.

Quite frankly, it is cruel for the government to try to pretend that it is doing a lot to assist people like Mr Howard. When he hears announcements like that he actually thinks that he might get his package sooner, but he is not going to. It is cruel for the government to perpetuate this myth that it somehow is doing something. Even if some people on the home care package waitlist get their packages, there are still 110,000 waiting—110,000 older Australians! I asked the minister yesterday, and the Prime Minister earlier in the week, what their plan is to fix this. What is their long-term vision to deal with the waitlist? It blew out from 88,000 to 120,000 on this government's watch. The royal commission said it was neglect. The government can and should do better when it comes to funding the essential services that it is solely responsible for. I hate picking up the phone and talking to people who have issues around home care packages, but I will continue to do it every day and fight for them. (Time expired)