Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care. How will older Australians benefit from the Albanese government's once-in-a-lifetime aged-care reforms?

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

I thank the member for Corangamite for her question. For the past two years, the Albanese government has had its shoulder to the wheel, lifting the standard of aged care. We've delivered a 15 per cent increase to the minimum award wage for more than 250,000 aged-care workers, with more to come, and today there is a registered nurse on site in aged care 99 per cent of the time. Older Australians are receiving an additional 3.9 million minutes of care every single day, and today we announce a $5.6 billion package that will make sure older Australians have access to the aged-care services they need and deserve. Our reforms will help 1.4 million Australians stay in their home for longer, through a new program, Support at Home. Today we will introduce our new rights based aged-care act. This is what ambition for aged care looks like.

Our new Support at Home program, starting next year, will help more older Australians stay at home. Support at Home will cut wait times to receive in-home aged-care services. It will deliver more tailored support, increasing levels of ongoing care from four to eight. It will ensure faster access to assistive technology, like walkers and wheelchairs, and it will increase the maximum support available from $61,000 to $78,000. Support at Home will offer a temporary boost through more transitional assistance, and it will provide temporary access to palliative care.

After the Treasurer handed down the 2024 budget, I travelled to North Queensland to meet with aged-care recipients and the workers who care for them. I met Patricia and her in-home carer, Chinatsu, at her home in Woree, about 15 minutes outside of Cairns. Patricia relocated from Adelaide with her late partner Charlie in 1988. They moved into that home a week after arriving, and she's lived there ever since. Since Charlie passed away, Patricia has remained independent in her home with the support of Chinatsu, who visits for two hours a fortnight for domestic assistance and a chat. When I asked Patricia what her plans for the future were, she told me firmly: 'This is my home. I'm going to keep living here.' Patricia, today we are making that possible.

The reforms we announce today will create better and safer care for Patricia and for all older Australians. Today we answer the question the royal commissioners could not agree upon: how do we make aged care equitable and sustainable? Today we announce a new foundation for aged care that makes financial sense and makes sure older Australians will have access to the services they need and deserve.