Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. How is the Albanese Labor government investing in aged care to support older Australians and the workers who care for them?

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

I thank the member for Hasluck for her very timely question on the eve of the third anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's report being tabled in this place—a report which described a sector that had spiralled into crisis through a lack of leadership, integrity and accountability, and a system where secrecy had been hardwired.

Australians have the right to know how their aged-care system is performing. Their government has a responsibility to design and to operate a system that tells them that, and aged-care providers have a responsibility to monitor, improve and be transparent about the kind of care that they provide. These are three very simple principles that, for too long, were put in the too-hard basket. That was until the now Prime Minister's 2022 budget reply, where he made a promise to Australians that transparency and accountability be brought back to aged care; to deliver new funding, more staff and better support to the aged-care sector; to be transparent about how the sector is funded; and to ensure that every single dollar of that investment provides better care to people.

Today the Albanese government delivers that promise by publishing Dollars to Care. From today, older Australians and their families can now go on My Aged Care and see how much they are spending on their care, their food, their wages and more alongside their star ratings profile. This transparent tool will hold providers to account for how they are spending taxpayer money and ultimately give people the full picture to make informed decisions about their care.

We are shining a light on the aged-care sector—the good and the bad. We recognise that the majority of aged-care providers and their staff are working hard to deliver high-quality and safe care. That is why we delivered a historic pay rise for aged-care workers: to recognise their efforts in lifting the standard of care across the country. Under the Albanese government, there is now a registered nurse onsite in aged care 98.7 per cent of the time on average. That's 23.69 hours a day. Older people are receiving an additional 2.16 million additional minutes of care every single day. The average sector-level investment in the workforce has increased by 19 per cent, and there has been a reduction in the number of pressure injuries, of physical restraint and of significant unplanned weight loss. We are also seeing improvements in the star ratings data, with fewer one- and two-star-rated facilities and more four- and five-star-rated facilities. The Albanese government has brought aged care back from the brink and, looking forward, we have to make sure that the system is capable of sustaining this progress now and well into the future.