Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Western Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

) ( ): I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) dementia is the leading cause of death of women in Australia;

(2) over 42,000 Western Australians are living with dementia and some 242 new diagnoses are made each day;

(3) 472,000 Australians live with dementia and almost 1.6 million people are involved in their care;

(4) it is expected that the number of people living with dementia in Australia is likely to increase to over 1 million by 2058;

(5) we all have a role to play in building dementia-friendly communities such as the initiative of the Memory Cafe in Cambridge;

(6) Western Australians are fortunate to be served by Alzheimer's WA which was founded 40 years ago in Inglewood and has just opened their new base in Subiaco; and

(7) the 42,000 Western Australians suffering from dementia deserve local, well-funded care, support and research.

Dementia is a truly awful disease where you watch family members forget other family members, forget faces they once recognised and eventually forget who they are themselves. Like many in this place, I've had the experience of seeing members of my family being eaten away by this disease, which currently has no cure. My great-grandmother, who lived with us for many years in Fremantle when I was growing up as a kid, started to show early signs and was eventually moved into a nursing home, which, thankfully, was just around the corner from us. But watching her go through that awful experience, her fears and worries amplified as her personality was slowly sanded away, was just truly awful, and it's awful for any family member who has to watch that happen to someone they love.

I'm proud to be moving this motion in coordination with the member for Curtin. We were at the Alzheimer's WA launch of their new offices in Subiaco. I think it was the member for Curtin's idea that we should try to amplify the message from that event by moving this motion. Normally I would have thought it was too kind a bipartisan motion to get much attention in this place, but it speaks to the great people on the selection panel that we are debating it here this evening, and I thank them all.

If there's one message I'd like people to take away from the motion, if there's one message I'd like to send from this motion, it's this: early intervention is vital in the fight against dementia. Currently there is no known cure, but what we can do now, in our lives today, are things that we know can minimise the risk of dementia down the track. Regular exercise, keeping mentally stimulated, eating healthy, drinking less alcohol, maintaining social lives, maintaining a healthy weight, quitting smoking—good advice generally; good advice if you want to avoid the awful impacts of dementia. Not that, if you do any of these things, you're guaranteed not affected by it. It's probably also good advice for all of us in this place regardless. If we take the steps where we can, we're not just looking after ourselves, we're looking after our loved ones. We know when someone suffers from dementia, it's not just them who suffers, it's their family who suffer too.

It's estimated that up to 337,000 Australians provide unpaid care for someone living with dementia in Australia. One in three of these people reduce their working hours so that they can provide unpaid care. We know this is something that disproportionately affects women. Three in four primary carers of people with dementia are women So, again, when we think about what we will be able to do to cure this disease and prevent people being affected by it, we'll also be taking a small step towards reducing that burden on so many families.

I would like to make special mention of the chair of Alzheimer's WA, Adjunct Professor Warren Harding , who is a very proud and active advocate and a g reat constituent of the Curtin electorate. I 'll quote something he said, which I think sums up what needs to be done as we tackle this policy challenge: ' Every Australian has the human right to age with dignity in place , where their children work and their grandchildren go to school, and live as they choose in safe , dementia - friendly communities , with access to affordable, high - quality and safe aged - care services. ' I want to thank Warren and his team for their research and advocacy work and for the meaningful difference it makes to the lives of people in Western Australia every day.

Alzheimer's WA was established in 1982 — I understand it was established in Inglewood in the Perth electorate —a nd over the last almost 40 years it has continued to help carers and people who are living with this disease. Over time they have become a leader not just in WA but also across Australia. T heir work also provides important , essential jobs , some 180 permanent, part-time and casual roles , in three facilities across the metropolitan area. They also offer certificate III and certificate I V education consulting services for other providers.

If we look at what the future holds, it's worth reflecting on the fact that the number of older Australians is set to double over the next 40 years and that that is going to put huge pressure on our economy . We have to make sure we have the skills and the people able to care for not just this generation but also the next generation .

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded ?

Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I thank the member for Perth for moving this motion and for the words that he just said. To quote him: dementia is truly awful. As he said, it eats away at a person. It eats away at them mentally and physically and it eats away at their personality.

Dementia is not one specific disease. Rather it's a term which describes a collection of symptoms of a larger group of illnesses. These illnesses cause a progressive decline in a person's functioning, including a loss of memory, confusion, personality change and withdrawal. One of the most common types of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, there is currently no prevention or cure for most forms of dementia. While we must absolutely prioritise research efforts into dementia, in the absence of a major breakthrough at this point in time, we must ensure that we provide a supportive and loving environment for those who suffer from dementia and for those who care for people who suffer from dementia. The importance of this can't be overstated.

The facts about the incidence and impact of dementia are stark. Dementia is the leading cause of death in women in Australia and the second leading cause of death of all Australians. It is expected to overtake heart disease to become the leading cause of death in coming years. In WA over 42,000 Western Australians live with dementia, and over 240 new diagnoses are made each day. Nationally dementia impacts 472,000 Australians, and there are almost 1.6 million people involved in their care. The 2021 Intergenerational report highlighted that the prevalence of dementia is expected to continue to rise as a result of Australia's ageing population over the next 40 years and that without a medical breakthrough the number of people living with dementia is expected to increase to over one million by 2058.

With approximately 70 per cent of people with dementia living in the community, the need to prepare our communities for an ever-increasing older population , both socially and physically , has never been greater . C ommunities that embrace our demographic shift stand to gain not only from greater social cohesion but also economically, through earlier diagnoses and people living more actively within their communities.

There is no one-size-fits all model for creating a dementia-friendly community. It's something that needs to be developed locally, to meet local needs, and in a local context. And everyone has a role to play in creating dementia-friendly communities, a place where those living with dementia are supported to experience a life of meaning, purpose and value and where the accessibility of the physical environment supports people living with dementia to remain engaged, included and connected.

There are many stories and examples of innovative practice in dementia prevention and dementia care. To highlight one example, something that happens in WA is the Forget-Me-Not cafes, a great initiative where people can come together to support those with dementia and their carers. The cafes provide a safe place for people to visit, socialise and interact with others. During a conversation I had with the chair of Alzheimer's WA, Professor Warren Harding, I provided my support for a memory cafe at Floreat Forum, in my electorate of Curtin. Also, after collaborating with Alzheimer's WA and with the town of Cambridge, we launched the Cambridge memory cafe earlier this year, and it's been a great success. It provides an opportunity for people living with dementia to maintain their community connections and helps to address some of the challenges they face, such as lack of access to safe social activities. Further, the memory cafe in Floreat Forum has raised awareness and understanding among local business operators and visitors to the forum about how we can all better connect with people who are living with dementia in our local community.

By way of finishing, and to reiterate what the member for Perth has said, I will say that Western Australians are so fortunate to be served by Alzheimer's WA. Alzheimer's WA is the leading voice for people living with dementia in WA. For nearly 40 years it has provided a range of support, education and consultancy services to assist people who are living with dementia, as well as their families and carers. With the member for Perth, I went to the opening of their new premises in my electorate—they moved from his electorate to mine; it's not a judgement on him, but they have moved into my electorate!—and we were both there to welcome them and to celebrate their new premises. I want to express my congratulations to all involved in this amazing organisation. Thank you very much.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Perth and the member for Curtin for bringing this motion on this very important matter, dementia, before the House. Australia has an ageing population, and there are about half a million people in Australia with dementia, and that's expected to increase pretty markedly over the next decade. It is also one of the most common causes of death, being the commonest cause in females and second most common in males. As the member for Perth has noted, as the number of people with dementia increases the call on services is expected to rise accordingly. According to Dementia Australia, 1.6 million Australians are involved in the care of people living with dementia. While the disease can occur in anybody, it is of course more common in those over 65 years of age. This tragic syndrome affects so many Australians directly and indirectly. It will continue to be a real drain on our productivity unless we can get the management right.

People with dementia don't do very well in different surroundings. They really like to be in familiar surroundings. Therefore it's very important that we keep people with dementia at home. If we are going to do that, we need to make sure our workforce is dementia trained and properly skilled. Secondly, we need to put in place services that support people with dementia in ways that are perhaps secondary to what people might imagine. As they age, people with dementia can have things like hearing loss, visual impairment and continence difficulties. Unless we address those issues, their lives will be made much more difficult, and it will be much more difficult for their carers and much more difficult to support them, particularly in aged-care surroundings. So we must make sure that people, as they age, and particularly those with dementia, have access to services. My personal view is that people over the age of 65 should be eligible for the NDIS. I think that that is something that would make a huge difference in our management of people with dementia.

Secondly, we must make sure that our respite services are able to provide carers with support and enough respite to enable them to continue to care for their loved ones with dementia in their own homes or in familiar surroundings. The number of people living with dementia is obviously much higher in cities, and it's easier to provide services in large population areas, but we must also think of those with dementia who live in rural, regional and remote areas. We must provide services for them in rural and remote areas. We must make sure that those who are receiving home care for dementia are provided with the services that they need to maintain good health. I certainly agreed with the member for Perth when he said that we should be doing much more to foster dementia-friendly communities. It's in the interests of all of us, both socially and economically, to do so.

I looked into the Memory Cafe that the member for Perth mentioned. I think that sounds like a really terrific idea. It's something that we should be supporting around the country. I'd like to thank those in my own community of Macarthur who are providing terrific services for those with dementia—organisations such as Meals on Wheels, Myrtle Cottage and Macarthur Disability Services. I would like to acknowledge their work and their support for people with dementia living in my electorate.

As the member for Curtin mentioned, dementia has not just one cause. There are over 100 different causes of dementia. The most familiar, of course, is Alzheimer's disease, but it can be caused by a variety of other conditions. Early diagnosis is key, and access to early diagnosis and proper aged-care plans are very important to the family of a loved one who has dementia. We must get this right, and we must get better at recognising early dementia and providing services for people with early onset dementia. It can be a difficult thing to do, and loved ones often face resistance from the person in care to the diagnosis of dementia, but we need to support all those involved in care and providing support, from our GPs to our community nurses and support organisations. The National Dementia Helpline is a great point of contact for those facing these difficulties. I thank the members for bringing this very important matter to the House.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about one of the nation's greatest health challenges. Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia and the No. 1 cause of death for women. Almost half a million people are currently living with dementia in Australia, with this number expected to reach around 1.1 million in less than 30 years.

I'm proud of the funding our government is investing into dementia services to support those living with this condition and their carers. We have a range of government-funded dementia services, including Dementia Australia, which delivers the National Dementia Support Program and the National Dementia Helpline. These services offer life-changing support, most notably aiding carers when behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are affecting a person's care or quality of life.

Carers can go through many emotions, from joy to grief, and financial pressure. It is of the utmost importance that our government know that these carers are not alone. The National Dementia Helpline provides free support and advice for carers on how they can look after themselves and on the services that are available to them. As part of this year's budget, we made an extraordinary commitment to dementia, investing over $229 million. Some of the key measures of this investment include enhanced support for people living with dementia, additional outreach capability for the National Dementia Helpline and dementia training throughout the sector.

In my electorate of Bonner, I am seeing the benefits of our ongoing investment firsthand. As part of our government's $185 million Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission from 2018 to 2029, the first recipient of this mission, with $10 million for dementia research, was the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research at the Queensland Brain Institute. I had the privilege of being invited to the centre with the minister for health, Greg Hunt, to see the groundbreaking research being undertaken and I congratulated the team on being awarded the single largest boost in health and medical research funding in Australia's history. The researchers could not have been more grateful for our government's continued support and funding. I invited local dementia advocates from Bonner to join me on a tour of the research facility and attend a presentation at the QBI's world-class research facility. The tour examined the different technologies and the new methods being used and developed to ensure that all Australians have a better quality of life.

I also want to take this opportunity to shine a light on two amazing dementia advocates in my electorate, John Quinn and his partner Glenys Petrie. In 2014 John and Glenys started the Brisbane South-East Dementia Alliance. From this, their work has extended across our community and beyond. John lives with dementia and shares his personal testimony to raise awareness. To say that they have both been heavily involved in our community is an understatement. Glenys had a vision for John to live well and to be supported in the community, and she has dedicated her time to breaking the stigma and changing the mindset about people living with this condition. She has organised regular community forums and even an international dementia conference in Bonner. Glenys has also maintained the Remember Me friendship group which meets monthly to enable people with dementia, their carers and family members to get together socially. It goes to show that providing safe and inclusive spaces where connections can be made really does make all the difference.

Most recently, Glenys and John have been working with the year 12 students at Bonner's Iona College to deliver a dementia awareness program. Glenys and John refer to these students as 'the change agents of the future'. Iona College is the first school in Australia to work towards becoming a dementia-friendly school. This month the Brisbane South-East Dementia Alliance launched the Creating Change: Activating a Dementia-Friendly Brisbane forum, which took place at the college. It saw Brisbane residents and businesses come together to support and empower people with dementia to live well. Glenys is well and truly making strides towards her vision that, by the time Brisbane hosts the 2032 Olympics, we will be recognised as a dementia-inclusive city. Currently, Brisbane is the only capital city in Australia that has committed to this recognition, and it would not have been possible without the efforts of John and Glenys.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on this motion moved today by my friend and colleague the member for Perth, because there has never been a more critical time to address the issue of dementia in Australia. In 2021 there are an estimated 472,000 Australians living with dementia. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase by almost 1.1 million by 2058. Dementia is a terminal condition, and there is still no cure. It continues to be the leading cause of death of women in Australia and the second-leading cause of death in this country overall, and it is predicted to become the leading cause of death within the next five years. It is estimated that today almost 1.6 million people in Australia are involved in the care of someone living with dementia. We know that approximately 70 per cent of people with dementia are living at home in the community, so ensuring our communities are dementia-friendly and inclusive makes very good sense and should be a high priority for local, state and federal governments throughout Australia. While health, aged-care and disability sector reforms over recent years have been vital to better supporting people with dementia, we know from what individuals impacted by dementia tell us that there is still a long way to go before we can address and, indeed, prevent discrimination, stigma and misunderstanding of dementia in our communities.

My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, almost two years ago. He continues to live an active and fulfilling life, thanks in large part to my remarkable mother, a strong family support network, a terrific team of carers, and some truly wonderful people and resources in our local community. All of us have a role to play in supporting him, allowing him to continue the many activities he enjoys, including a daily walk to the newsagent to get his beloved Newcastle Herald. I've learnt a lot about how a little bit of support can go a long way to helping maintain a person's dignity and community involvement.

My father is an extraordinary person. He inspires me every day. He's always been a leader, he's always put himself forward, and he's always mindful of others around him. When I told him I was going to join my colleague and friend, the member for Dobell, who joins me in the chamber today to honour her father's passing in the 2021 Grant McBride Memory Walk and Jog, my dad was the first person to put up his hand and say that he wanted to walk with me. He knew the value of raising awareness and funds around dementia research.

I really want to thank those extraordinary researchers in my community at the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute who continue to do groundbreaking research around the early detection of dementia and potential treatments. But, of course, diagnosis comes with its own set of difficulties if you don't know how to access support and you don't have that readily available in your community. That is why I give an enormous vote of thanks to local communities like Newcastle, who play an integral role in supporting dementia inclusion both in the built environment and in the forms of activities in our communities.

I want to acknowledge the role of the Hunter Dementia and Memory Resource Centre in Hamilton that founded the remarkable Memory Cafe, which we heard members from Curtin and Perth speak of earlier. Regretfully, the funding for the Memory Cafe in Newcastle was cut—that doesn't happen in our city anymore, to a great shame. However, the Newcastle library at the local government level has picked up the Memory Project, a terrific activity where people come together on a monthly basis with an art therapist and historians.

I'd also like to acknowledge a great podcast that my parents recently contributed to called Laughter and Tears: Living with Dementia. It's a podcast series hosted by ABC broadcaster Dan Cox, who has done a lot to make sure the issue of dementia is heard and respected in our community.

Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My parents have also contributed to a podcast called laughter and tears. They said the 'tear' bit was bringing me up. I thank the members for Perth and Curtin for putting this motion forward. When I saw that both of them had done so, I thought, 'How can I repay them?' I can repay them by calling them both good friends of mine, thereby making their careers in this place less pleasant, and when they return to Perth, a state that I have referred to as the kingdom of Narnia, they can explain to their fellow Western Australians why they would have anything to do with someone like the member for Mackellar. While the member for Dobell is here, I want to pass on my sympathies for her father's passing due to dementia. As always, the contributions of the members for Macarthur and Bonner were insightful, and the member for Newcastle has given us a personal feel for what this is like.

Before I came to this place, I was involved in the provision of goods and services to the aged-care sector. I got to see what wonderful work is being done by aged-care providers throughout Australia to help people with dementia. There is a greater concentration of people with dementia in aged-care homes than you would find in other parts of our society. Therefore, in many ways, aged-care providers are on the front line of dealing with people with dementia. It's interesting that we talk about sending people to Mars and exploring the depths of our ocean, and, every single day, we uncover such extraordinary knowledge of our universe—quasars, dark matter, black holes—and yet we understand so little about ourselves and what the brain means to human beings. When you compare us as a species with all the other animals we share this planet with, the thing that sets us apart, above and beyond anything else, is our brain. Our brains hold our memories, our personality, our capacity to innovate. They allow us to love, they allow us to care, they give us compassion and they allow us to work together. They have, in so many ways, changed the world in which we live. We stand today on the shoulders of such great thinkers, yet we understand so little about this mechanism that we have atop our bodies, which represents so much to us.

When people begin to lose capacity and their brain starts to ossify because of plaquing, which we know is one of the features of dementia, they begin to lose not just their memory but their personality and their capacity to communicate and associate with other people. It becomes incredibly difficult for us to help people in that situation. They often revert to earlier years in their lives. The member for Macarthur was talking about having a workforce that is prepared for dementia, and he's absolutely right when he says that. One thing I observed in aged care was the number of people who had come to this country from elsewhere. For some reason I always pick on Italy. I think it's because the first time I came across this was in meeting a lovely lady who had come to Australia when she was 18. She spoke only Italian when she arrived. By the time I met her she'd been here 71 years, I think. She suffered from mild dementia, nothing serious, but she constantly would talk to me in Italian because she had reverted to her native tongue. Of course, that made it very difficult for her English-speaking carers, and she actually needed someone who spoke Italian. I think we need to be cognisant of that in our immigration and visa system—to ensure that our aged-care providers have the flexibility to bring people from different parts of the world to this country so that people have someone they can communicate with.

I think both sides of this parliament, whenever they've been in government, have dedicated massive resources not just to this disease of the mind but to many other diseases of the mind. That is both appropriate and sensible. We will spend tens of billions, if not trillions, of dollars getting to Mars. I wonder if we are willing to spend that amount of money in dedicating ourselves to this inquiry—of ourselves and our minds.

Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I'd like to say thank you to the member for Newcastle and to her father, Kevin. Dementia is heartbreaking and it touches too many Australian families. There are many thousands of people living with dementia across Australia and there are hundreds of thousands of others who love and care for them. In my community on the Central Coast of New South Wales there are some 6,000 people living with dementia and 20,000 people who are involved in their care.

As others have said, dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia, right behind heart disease. For Australian women, dementia is the leading cause of death. It affects one in 10 people aged over 65, but dementia isn't just an illness of older people; if affects younger people too, like my late father. Every day, another 250 people are diagnosed with dementia and, tragically, we lose 36 people to dementia. Unfortunately, these numbers are set to grow in the coming years unless something changes. That's why it's so important for us to raise awareness. The more we talk about dementia, the more we can reduce its stigma and create a better future for Australians living with dementia and those who love them.

We all have a role to play in creating dementia-friendly communities where everyone belongs, but one of the most important roles is that of carer. Carers do an incredible job, but their job has been made a lot tougher during the pandemic. Over the past 18 months, in-home support and day programs have been wound back or closed because of lockdowns. People living with dementia have struggled with isolation and loneliness, and so have carers like Liz. I spoke to Liz recently. She cares for her mum, who's living with dementia in residential aged care on the Central Coast. This year was really tough for Liz because she wasn't able to visit her mum for months. She could only talk to her through an iPad, and one time her mum went to pass her a cup of tea through the iPad. It's just devastating. She told me: 'During this time, our mother's older sister passed away and, only six days later, her youngest brother also passed away. We never had the chance to tell our mother of the loss of her siblings.' She told me she understands COVID-19 restrictions, but she said, 'These measures fail to include or address the immense impact that the absence of family visits is having on our parents' health and mental state.' On a personal note, she said her own mental health was exacerbated and that she started to suffer panic attacks and high levels of anxiety from being denied access to her frail mother. This lockdown has been tough. As Liz said to me, everybody wants the best of care for their parents, but more needs to be done to help carers, who only want the best for their loved ones.

Families around Australia have been touched by dementia, and, as I said, my family is no different. I lost my grandma Molly to dementia when I was in my early 20s. I also lost my dad, Grant, to younger onset dementia when he was just 68 years old. That's why I made a promise to my mum, Barbie, that I would do everything I could for people living with dementia and those who love them. In honour of my dad, I decided to start the Grant McBride Memory Walk and Jog to support the important work of Dementia Australia and to raise awareness of and support for those who live in regional Australia with dementia.

This year, we held the fourth annual Grant McBride Memory Walk and Jog, the second in a row held virtually. With most of New South Wales under stay-at-home orders and with lockdown fatigue kicking in across the coast, I really wasn't sure how many people would get involved, but Coasties joined in droves, showing their big hearts and generous spirit. I was hoping to raise about $5,000 to start with. Instead, we almost tripled our fundraising target, raising close to $15,000 for Dementia Australia. It's an incredible effort from communities under strain through COVID, and I'm so grateful to everyone who got involved.

This event is about raising awareness. It's also about people feeling less alone and encouraging people to get active. I spent most of the day walking in my local neighbourhood with my friend Ali and her dog Polly, but I also saw plenty of other people getting out and about, too, like my old primary school teacher Sue Jarrett; dad's good friends Luigi and Georgette Bruni and their daughter Gina; Ross Fraser, who was running for his wife, Sue, and raised over $1,500; friends from Toowoon Bay Surf Life Saving Club Patrol 2—thank you Karen and your daughter Claudia; and from Long Jetty Landcare—thank you to Carly, Chris, Matilda, Georgia, Isabella and Patrick, who did a COVID-safe eight kilometres. I'm so pleased to say that, over the past four years, since the event first began, we've managed to raise over $61,000 for Dementia Australia. These funds will go such a long way towards helping us find a cure, and I'm grateful to everyone who's helped promote this important cause.

Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Dobell on her speech and pass on my condolences as well.

It's a well-known and sad fact that the effect of dementia on the wider Australian community has been increasing in recent years. With life expectancy improving each year as a result of better living standards and medical developments, the likelihood of being affected by this particular disease has increased accordingly. There are around half a million Australians living with dementia, a figure which is estimated to more than double over the next 30 years. It may be a surprise to some that it is the second most common cause of death—and the leading cause of death amongst women—in Australia. The disease does not receive the publicity or the recognition in Australia that many others receive.

Dementia is the single-largest cause of disability in people over the age of 65, and approximately 52 per cent of residents in residential aged care suffer with dementia. These are not just statistics, data on a page. I need to stress that these are people. These are unique individuals who have contributed to our society, who have led interesting and varied lives and who now deserve our support and our respect. They have differing needs, and the avenues taken to recognise and support them and their families need to be equally diverse and appropriately specialised. This government continues to work to meet these expanding needs.

In my electorate of Cowper, we are ranked eighth in dementia prevalence in this country. The Port Macquarie state electorate shows the third-highest prevalence of dementia in New South Wales, with numbers expected to increase to 3,500 by 2050 in Port Macquarie alone.

When I was a boy, my father used to take us on rounds. He was a doctor in a country town. As a child, I found it incredibly confronting when we would go into the rooms and speak to the elderly people with dementia. When, as a police officer for over a decade, I dealt with people who were suffering from dementia, it equally struck me that, at times, they were very much alone. It also struck me how very difficult it was for the families of those people suffering with dementia; it was as torturous for them as for the patient.

When I first came into this role, I was approached by St Agnes's Care & Lifestyle, and they showed me modelling of a dementia village based on a Netherlands model. It was village-style accommodation incorporating 12 homes with 93 residents. There would be up to seven or eight in a house, with a full-time carer in there and with street landscapes—streets and shrubs and places to stay. It would be their home—a village where they felt like they were at home. When I saw it, I said to them, 'We have to do this so that we're not seeing people put away in the twilight years of their lives but instead they're given that accommodation and amenity that we all love and all strive for.' So, this month, I was so pleased and happy to announce $6.5 million from the federal government, through the Building Better Regions Fund, towards the $27 million village to be erected by St Agnes's Care & Lifestyle. At that end, I would like to thank Adam Spencer and Bronwyn Chalker from Emmaus. This is life-changing for these people and nation-changing for Australia, because I know that this model that they're putting up will be replicated up and down all the coasts around the country and in the country and the regions. That's exactly the way we should be treating not only our older people but people with dementia.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted 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 sitting.