Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll pick up where I left off in speaking on the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response No. 2) Bill 2021—I seem destined to give this speech in small increments. But it is a really important topic and, as I was saying before, what really concerns me is that this important topic will go the way of all these things in terms of how this government will treat it. We have a royal commission that sets out the way we should go, but what we'll get from this government will be spin and announcements but no substance. It is important to note that the royal commission made 148 recommendations and that the response to these recommendations is so far disappointing. The government has delayed and rejected key recommendations.

We know there's not enough reform around workforce issues—not improving wages. This is something I hear time and time again from people who work in the sector and people who rely on those who work in the sector. We are not going to fix this until we properly pay the people we are relying on to work in our aged-care sector. Regarding funding commitments, we know that this government is handing over $3.2 billion to providers with no strings attached, nothing to say that the funding actually has to go towards providing the better food and the better care that the aged-care royal commission said is needed. And the home-care package waitlist of 100,000 is still not cleared. Importantly, the government has also ignored the recommendation to require a nurse to be on duty 24/7 in residential care. What a disgrace—such a core recommendation from the royal commission, and this government can't even pick it up.

The government also hasn't implemented the main increase in the number of mandatory care minutes in residential aged care. Again, I say that we know staffing levels, staffing conditions and pay are core to so many of the problems we see in our aged-care sector. It was picked up through the commission and it's picked up in the conversations that I have in my community. It is neglect, that this government isn't picking up those recommendations and implementing them.

While there are many good parts to this bill, it is important that the bill receive further scrutiny. That's why I support the recommendation that it goes to a Senate committee inquiry for further investigation. It is concerning that this bill hasn't had the level of stakeholder consultation that it should have. From our side, the stakeholders we've consulted with have all expressed concern that they haven't had the chance to really provide input into and shape this bill.

The government is choosing to implement worker screening instead of the royal commission recommendation for a national registration scheme. I note that Commissioner Briggs noted how this scheme would take time to set up. So, on something that we need time to set up, this government has decided to not even deal with it yet. That is, again, concerning, when we think about the quality of what's provided in our aged care. There will be weaker governance standards. The governance standards proposed in this bill are less prescriptive than those recommended by the royal commission. Regarding the clarity and the insight that we have into what's going on in our aged-care homes—the freedom of information exemption: currently providers are exempt from certain FOI requests. The royal commission recommended that this exemption be removed, but that has been left out of this bill. There are a couple of other issues that should also be addressed. As I said, the core of this issue, the core of this debate, must be about the government following through on the recommendations of the aged-care royal commission. We deserve an aged-care system that is funded properly, that is staffed properly and that works for all older Australians.