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

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Louisa is 95 and receives a level 4 care package. Her provider charges over $1,100 every month in management fees. This is 25 per cent of her care package funds. For some elderly constituents in my electorate, management fees are gouging up to 45 per cent out of their care package. In regional areas, there's often one provider and little choice. Minister, this is not 'reasonable', as the legislation states; it's a rort. Will you protect our elderly Australians and implement a cap on management fees that can be charged by My Aged Care providers?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Mayo. I think this is a very important question. One of the reforms that we put in place with regard to My Aged Care was precisely to ensure that fees were published. The advice I have is that 93 per cent of My Aged Care home-care provider fees are already being published, and I have asked the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, to ensure that all are published or to take action to ensure there are show cause notices. So I think that the point you raise is very important.

The second element you raised is that individuals under our reforms must be given notice of the level of fees. That was brought into being as at 1 July 2020. The third element you raised was with regard to future actions. One of the items which the Prime Minister and I are looking forward to with regard to the royal commission is the final report, due in a matter of weeks—a commission which was never previously called by those on the other side but was called and delivered by the Prime Minister in his first weeks in office—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left! Member for Hotham!

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to look at home care and residential care, and to ask for recommendations. My expectation is there will be recommendations and, if there are, we will act; and, if there aren't recommendations in this area, we will also be acting. So, either way, we will act. But we want to see, understandably, what that royal commission report recommends and take those recommendations forward either on the basis of the report or, if not that, on any other basis.

The other point that I would make is that we have increased the number of Home Care Packages from 60,000 to over 195,000. There were 60,000 in 2012-13. The member for Hindmarsh will remember that figure because that's what it was under him as minister. It's more than triple that now. The relevant population has increased by 28 per cent, but the number of packages has more than tripled in that time. That's giving more choice and better care to a higher number of people and a higher proportion of that population than has ever been the case before.