Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I wish to start by thanking the aged-care workers in my electorate for their efforts in recent months. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's special report on the impact of COVID-19 on the aged-care sector highlighted that, while their interim report noted the aged-care workforce is underresourced and overworked, it is now also traumatised. My Centre Alliance colleague Stirling Griff has introduced this bill in another place. We have both long campaigned for staffing ratios in the aged-care sector, and the frequent reply from both government and the industry is that it's simply too expensive to implement.

Estia Health, Japara, Regis Healthcare are all residential aged-care providers and all ASX listed companies. According to recent investigations conducted by The Saturday Paper, the trio have received a combined $8.4 billion in revenue from government subsidies and resident charges in the last five years alone. At the same time, these three companies have paid out more than $600 million to shareholders. We've heard stories of directors of aged-care companies who have had the ability to use their funds to buy luxury cars. There's money in offshore bank accounts. We hear allegations of where rent is more than double the commercial rate, with money being funnelled back into church coffers.

At the other end of the spectrum, a report carried out by StewartBrown Advisory earlier this year, pre COVID, shows that 75 per cent of aged-care providers in regional areas are operating at a cash loss, and questions remain as to whether small community-based providers can remain viable. Clearly, something has gone horribly wrong in the aged-care sector, but, without shedding light on each aged-care facility, we won't know the extent of the damage.

This bill requires aged-care providers to disclose their income; their spend on food and medication; the amount spent on staff and staff training, accommodation and administration; and how much they pay out to their parent bodies. The providers will be required to submit an annual report to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, who will make the report available to the public. Similarly, the bill also amends the Corporations Act 2001 to ensure residential aged-care providers include detailed financial information in their annual financial statements. This will enable families of loved ones, stakeholders and the public to have a clear view, for the first time, of the proportion of income that providers actually spend on the cost of care and how much is being pocketed or wasted.

People were shocked by the extent of the abuse and poor care exposed in the interim report by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety—a report released almost 12 months ago today. The interim report showed that the government has deep systemic work to do to fix the aged-care system, and it also needs to increase its investment. In 2018-19, government spent over $20 billion on aged care, with approximately 66 per cent of this funding spent on residential aged care. But it simply can't keep pouring more money into a system without first asking for a more accountable and transparent framework from providers.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has got financial transparency squarely on its agenda. The interim report criticised the aged-care system for failing to publish sufficiently specific financial information, saying:

There is no public information on the way providers use taxpayers' funds and individuals' contributions to deliver aged care services.

Currently, there is no clear way to know how much a provider is spending on the provision of care. It is permissible for providers to spend their taxpayer subsidies pretty much as they choose. In an environment where our elderly are being subjected to systemic neglect, this cannot continue.

This bill is about transparency and accountability. It's something that residents deserve, it's something their families deserve and it's something that taxpayers deserve. This bill simply seeks factual information from providers so the government and the public will have a clearer picture of how facilities are resourced. This will be crucial if we, as the parliament, are to engage in sustainable reforms to the sector that will improve the experience and the treatment of vulnerable elderly people living in residential aged care.

Mr Deputy Speaker Zimmerman, with your permission, I would like to give my remaining time to the member for Warringah, who is seconding my bill.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. Is the motion seconded?

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I second the member for Mayo's bill, the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Financial Transparency) Bill 2020 [No. 2]. This bill seeks to legislate increased transparency of expenditure by aged-care providers. The sector receives approximately $13 billion per annum in public funding and some $12 billion in private funding. Total profit for the sector in financial year 2018 was $1.1 billion. Not enough transparency is available on where the funds are spent, giving rise to questions of the quality of care in certain facilities, and this has never been more evident than this year during the COVID pandemic.

At the outset, I'd like to thank the aged-care sector for their efforts in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Aged-care workers have been on the front line for over six months and are enduring very high levels of pressure and stress. The workers in these sectors are really in unfathomable conditions. So we must absolutely be focused on ensuring their work environment is as it should be.

The care exhibited in the various aged-care homes and their staff that I've met with over the last couple of months have been exemplary. Many of the aged-care facilities in Warringah have yet to record even a single case of the flu this season. I've met with Anglicare, Twilight and Allambie village aged-care facilities in the electorate. They're feeling the strain, but they are pleased with how their staff and residents have responded to the pandemic.

Those on the front line are supportive of the measures provided in this bill, and that's important. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation strongly recommends that this bill be supported and passed by the parliament as a matter of urgency.

This bill is important because it will improve transparency of financial records of aged-care providers. It will enhance the ability for stakeholders—including residents, families, suppliers and potential residents—to make an informed decision about the level of care provided at each home. An independent report commissioned by the royal commission into aged care has highlighted that there is insufficient financial transparency about the use of funds, from government and people in care, which totalled some $25 billion in the financial year 2018-19. At present, the financial reporting provided by residential care providers is only available to the Department of Health. Increasing the transparency of these records and specifying key areas of detail will increase confidence in the sector and allow for more public accountability.

The Law Council of Australia raised concerns as well, regarding the transparency of funds distributed to residential aged-care facilities. Their concerns include: the use of allocated funding, because it is unsupervised; that there is insufficient accountability in the way the funding is used; and that funding is not intensively or routinely audited.

Over 20 submissions have been received to the inquiry into a very similar bill introduced in the other place and have been largely supportive of the measures introduced in this bill. So this bill presupposes the final findings of the royal commission. It's consistent with the interim report and with the submissions provided to date and should urgently be considered by the government. It's been more than a year since the interim report was published, and I strongly support the initiative taken with this bill to act on the findings of the interim report of the royal commission and put in place some measures that will improve the accountability and transparency of the sector with minimal impacts on residents.

The issues of where money is being spent, nursing ratios and quality of care—all these things are incredibly important, and we've seen, through this COVID pandemic, that this is an area where we have a crack: we are exposed as a society. Our elderly are our most vulnerable, and we have a duty to ensure that they are properly taken care of. I commend this bill to the House.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The question is that this bill now be read a second time. The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.