Sam Lim (Tangney, 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 working for older Australians and the people 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 Tangney very much for his question. I want to wish his aged-care residents and his aged-care workers, alongside himself, a very happy WA Day, which I'm told is a very big deal. From our very first day in government, we have been working for older Australians and for the people who care for them. We're working on putting nurses back into nursing homes and working on making sure that older people have the care that they need with the quality that they deserve. We're working on making sure that our dedicated aged-care workers are paid fairly for the crucial and highly skilled work that they perform.

The May budget marks a 30 per cent increase in funding for aged care under the Albanese government since our first budget in October 2022. In this budget, there's a further $2.2 billion to help people stay at home for longer, with more home care packages to upgrade digital infrastructure, to improve regulation and to attract more workers. The work we're doing is already having a hugely positive impact for older people and for the dedicated carers looking after them. Today there is a registered nurse on site in aged care 98.88 per cent of the time on average in Australia. Older Australians are receiving an additional 3.6 million minutes of care every single day. Workers are being paid more than they ever have before after a 15 per cent increase to award wage minimums—an $11.3 billion investment in the people who dedicate their working lives to caring for older Australians. Of course, we know there is more to come with the final decision of the independent Fair Work Commission on stage 3 of the work value case on top of a tax cut for every single aged-care worker from 1 July.

After the budget, I went to Far North Queensland to talk with aged-care residents, with aged-care workers and with a home-care recipient about their experiences in aged care. I met a remarkable young worker named Clyde at Edge Hill Orchards in Manoora, in the member for Leichhardt's electorate. Clyde was brought up by his mum and his grandma, and his strong family values drew him to working in aged care. So he started working as a personal care worker at Edge Hill Orchards with his mum, Tracey, who works in the kitchen. Clyde told me that his pay rise, supported and funded by the Albanese government, helped him to get his certificate III, something that he had been struggling to do before the pay rise. Clyde now wants to go on and do a certificate IV and then eventually get his bachelor's, all while continuing his career in aged care, preferably at Edge Hill. That is what we have been working towards. That is who we have been working for—people like Clyde. The Albanese government has been working for people like Clyde and the residents he so passionately cares for, and we will continue to do that, delivering the positive change aged care has needed for so long.