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

My question is the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Briony has incomplete quadriplegia following an accident two years ago that broke her neck. Briony receives limited funding to help with showering and toileting. No funded rehabilitation or funded regular care or respite is funded. If Briony had been 64 when she broke her neck, she would have an NDIS package and support tailored to her needs. But Briony was 66. Minister, how is this not age discrimination, and when will the government agree to recommendation 72 of the aged-care royal commission report calling for equity for older Australians with a disability?

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 understand the circumstances of Briony and her family, and I want firstly to thank and acknowledge her support and her care, and the difficulties that they face.

Part of our response to the royal commission has been to invest very specifically in the needs of those with greater distress. We have done this through a combination of investments—without knowing Briony's particular circumstances, and I would be happy to work after this question on that—whether that is within home care or within residential. Within home care, there has been a $7.2 billion investment, and that home care includes 80,000 packages and also an uplift in the amount of funds that are available specifically for respite. That may well be able to assist in Briony's particular circumstances—again, without knowing the particular conditions.

Secondly, there are our investments in residential care. Residential care, of course, drove much of the reasoning behind the Prime Minister calling the first ever royal commission into aged care in Australia. In residential care, we have approximately $7.8 billion of investment, and that investment includes $7.2 billion which goes directly to an uplift in the $10-a-day basic daily fee, and that's then followed by increased support services, as we adopt the new funding mechanism going forward.

What does that mean, though, for Briony? That means that there are more funds for better care. Specifically, what we are able to do, as part of that, is to make sure that there is greater inreach by doctors. There's over $300 million to provide a doubling of the Aged Care Access Incentive, which will bring more doctors into more aged-care homes. That will provide, in particular, better and deeper coverage for those with complex needs. This is also accompanied by the fact that we have bonuses for nurses of $2,700 and $3,700 a year to make sure that we have higher retention and higher entry into the system of qualified nurses. Together, that combination of funding, whether it's in home care or whether it's in residential care, will operate to take care of not just everybody but in particular those with higher complexity needs. One of the challenges which has driven the royal commission and has driven the response to the royal commission has been the need to focus on those with higher complexities, such as Briony.