Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the past few weeks, I've had the privilege of visiting some amazing aged-care facilities in my electorate. As soon as I walked into Redleaf Manor Aged Care centre in Concord, I felt at ease. It felt like home. That's because of the staff, many of whom had been working there for decades. For them, aged care wasn't just a job; it was a calling. It gave them purpose: to care for our older Australians. The Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, and I were able to go thank the staff there and tell them about the $11.3 billion commitment the Labor government has made to fund a 15 per cent increase to their award wage.

There are so many aged-care workers who live in my electorate—almost 1,000 age and disability carers—and more than 30 aged-care facilities are located there. What unites every one of those workers is their care for older Australians in their final years. It's a demanding but vital role. But they deserve more than thanks. We ought to value them and pay them accordingly. Finally, they have a government doing just that—one that is truly on their side in trying to provide the best possible care to older Australians. Contrast this to the former government, whose own royal commission described it as doing as little as it could get away with on aged care.

The Albanese Labor government is making a historic $36 billion investment into aged care. It demonstrates the ambition we have for the sector, and that ambition is borne out most clearly by how quickly and urgently this government is addressing the royal commission's recommendations. We've implemented 69 of 148 recommendations in the first 12 months of this government. Compare this to the efforts of those opposite. They could only get around to implementing nine recommendations in 15 months. I commend the Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells, for the work she is putting into reforming the sector. We are determined to ensure older people, who helped build this country, receive high-quality and safe care.

I got to meet Sue, an aged-care resident, at Chiswick Manor Care Community. She's a former PE teacher and had organised for residents at the centre to raise funds for MS research. As a collective, they have raised $1,200 and walked a total of 278 kilometres. Sue should be a reminder, to all of us in this place, of the enormous contribution our aged-care residents have made to this country and continue to make. They deserve the best care we can give them.