Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Aged Care Bill 2024. The opposition extends a sincere offer to collaborate with the government in recognition of the urgent need for a robust, dignified and world class aged care system that can adequately support our ageing population. Since calling for and responding to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the coalition has remained resolute in advocating for the dignity and clarity that older Australians deserve. This legislation before us today delivers on the first recommendations of the royal commission appointed by the coalition to implement a new right based Aged Care Act.

Whilst in government, following the royal commission we provided more than $18 billion in funding to support the immediate needs of the sector. But we knew there was a lot more work to be done to support the future of the Australian aged-care community. That is why the opposition has engaged in good-faith negotiations with the government regarding their changes to the financial framework for aged care. Aged care is not merely a sector. It reflects how we as a society value and care for our elderly.

Through consistent and collegiate engagement, the coalition have held the government to account to finally introduce their package of reform and to bring all Australians into this conversation of change. It is essential that we address the challenges of change in this bill with the seriousness they deserve. That is why we pushed to have this bill immediately referred to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry. As the committee continues its inquiry into the provisions of this bill, the coalition will continue to reserve our final position until the committee delivers its final report. This will provide the coalition with the opportunity to deliver an evidence based position on the bill—one gained through engagement with the sector and the broader community that have been excluded from this government's desired changes for too long.

I'm proud to say that through our persistent negotiations the coalition achieved significant improvements to the government's proposed legislation that will protect the interests of older Australians and future generations. One of the most critical outcomes of our efforts was to introduce the grandfathering of arrangements. These arrangements guarantee that Australians who are already in residential aged care on a homecare package or assessed to be waiting for their allocated homecare package will not see any change to their existing arrangements, because it is essential that we respect the journey that these individuals have already commenced and agreed upon. It was only the coalition who stood up for Australians who were already in aged care.

It's no secret that we are the party for hardworking Australians. For that matter, we advocated for a lower taper rate towards care contributions to ensure that those who've worked hard and saved for their retirements are dealt a fairer deal under this government. We doubled down on a fairer deal for all Australians and held the government to account for their commitment to remain the majority funder of aged care. We also fought for the maintenance of a lifetime cap on care contributions—a cap that this government didn't want to see implemented, which rang alarm bells for the coalition during a cost-of-living crisis. This lifetime cap will provide families with peace of mind when it comes to the costs associated with caring for their loved ones. Not only did we fight for a lifetime cap; we also introduced a lifetime contribution cap of four years for residential aged care. This ensures that older Australians will only be required to contribute to the cost of their care for a maximum of four years in a residential setting, no matter how long their journey of ageing may be.

In addition to these financial safeguards,, the coalition secured an additional investment of $300,000 in capital funding for regional, rural and remote aged-care providers. This funding is critical for upgrading facilities that often struggle to meet the necessary standards because of financial constraints, because it is vital that all Australians, regardless of their geographic location, have access to quality aged-care service. This is something only the coalition understands, as the party for rural and regional Australia.

Our position on criminal penalties has always been clear, and so has the position of both royal commissioners. The introduction of criminal penalties was not a recommendation of the royal commission. Instead, it was an ill-considered and unconsulted election promise from this Labor government that would have held dangerous consequences. Following significant consultation with the aged-care sector, it became aware that standalone criminal penalties for aged-care workers would have forced the exit of highly capable staff from the sector. And in a sector already struggling with workforce shortages, this was an unacceptable consequence that the coalition refused to impose.

Let's be clear here. By removing criminal penalties from this bill, the coalition has not given a free ticket out for providers who are in the wrong. Existing work health and safety laws, banning orders and criminal codes provide the necessary regulatory framework to hold people to account. The introduction of standalone criminal penalties was yet another example of this government's heavy-handedness when it comes to regulation.

We support the need for older Australians to be safe and supported in our aged-care system, but in order for them to be safe and cared for we need the workforce to exist in the first place. This became particularly so for small and regional providers struggling to recruit the experienced workers required. We've long been the party for small business, and for that reason we have successfully eliminated provisions that would have forced unionism into every aged-care home, taking the focus away from quality care and instead increasing mandates that are felt hardest by the smallest providers.

Whilst there were significant achievements by the coalition during our negotiation with the government, I want to be clear for the record that this is Labor's package of reforms. This bill has not been co-designed alongside the coalition. This government has failed to address critical issues, such workforce, regulatory impacts and implementation timelines, in this bill. They are issues that seemingly continue to go unnoticed, with 40 homes closed last year alone under this Labor government. The coalition seeks to ensure that the introduction of this bill will not force the closure of more homes but instead result in the commencement of critical new builds across the sector.

We remain disappointed by the lack of transparency that the government has shown to the public throughout this entire process of reform. It is clear from the two inquiry hearings held thus far that among older Australians and the sector there is notable frustration—frustration that many of the changes proposed by the government were not consulted upon, frustration that much of the detail of their new act is to be held in delegated legislation yet to be seen, and frustration that, without this delegated legislation, Australians cannot adequately respond and prepare for the changes headed their way. On that matter, the coalition call on the government to be transparent and to publicly release rules prior to the bill's final debate so that we can fully understand the effects and requirements of this government's bill.

Nevertheless, even without relevant rules and delegated legislation, it is clear this bill aims to ensure Commonwealth aged-care services remain accessible to those who require them today and into the future. It aims to promote dignity, independence and a meaningful life for our seniors, which the coalition remain committed to. We welcome the government's introduction of this bill and will continue to listen intently through the committee process.

Debate adjourned.