Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport. How many additional nurses are needed to fulfil the government's commitment to have 24/7 nursing in aged care by 2023?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

WELLS (—) (): I thank the member for Hughes for her question, and I congratulate her on her first speech in the House yesterday and welcome her to this place. With respect to the question of 24/7 nurses, I was so pleased to be the minister to introduce that bill in the House yesterday morning. There were many people from this side of the House here yesterday morning to witness the very first bill to be introduced to the House in this 47th Parliament that gets to the work of reforming aged care—something that was neglected for nine very long years under the previous government.

Like the minister for the environment—I noted from an earlier answer today—in just nine weeks, in the first 100 days, we are going to deliver 17 and two: 19 recommendations of the royal commission in 100 days of this government compared to only nine in 17 months of the previous government. Compare nine in 17 months to 19 in the first 100 days. One of those goes to 24/7 nurses. Member for Page, are you coming for me on that?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind members on my left that one of your members is taking a point of order. I will give him the call when there is silence. The member for Page, on a point of order.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is one of relevance. I ask that the minister maybe Google it. It's a number. The answer to that question is a number.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. The minister is being relevant. She has been on her feet for one minute. The question was specifically regarding the government's policies around the additional nurses commitment in aged care. I call the minister.

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We estimate that about 80 per cent of the facilities across Australia already fulfil or nearly fulfil that requirement for 24/7 nurses, so we are focused 110 per cent on the 20 per cent of facilities that are not yet fulfilling the 24/7 nursing requirement. We need to lift up the standard of care across the country that was neglected for nine years under the previous government, and I note this new-found interest in 24/7 nurses. The previous government could not find within themselves to support that in the Senate in the 46th Parliament. The bill that we put through the House yesterday morning would have gone through but for their inability to support 24/7 nurses. So now they ask me how I'm going to deliver something that they could not do themselves, despite the fact that in the Senate they had the ability in budget week, in the dying days of the Morrison government. One of the very last things they could have done was legislate 24/7 nurses for older Australians across the country, but they didn't. You didn't! So now we will.

In the first 100 days we have commenced that legislative process. We are working with providers to make sure that everybody will have those nurses so that come 1 July next year every single older Australian will know that they will have access to a nurse when they need it in their facility, across the country. We will do that in tandem with our friends in the industrial movement, who are helping us move forward, and with our friends in the community and providers association, who are working with us to make sure that people in regional and rural areas and people in remote areas can access nurses and have the exemptions and support that they need to do that.

I am pleased and proud that this side of the House understands the importance of that. I am heartened by the question. It suggests that there might have been a turnaround in your approach, but I note that we would not be in this position—being forced to address these workforce shortages—if you'd done anything in the past nine years to take aged-care reform seriously. (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I didn't hear what the Manager of Opposition Business said. For the third time today, if I don't call you, I can't hear what you say, so there is no point talking until I call you. I give the call to the member for Macquarie.