Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's so incredibly vital that we improve aged care. We all witnessed what was going on in the sector only a couple of years ago. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation were vocal about their frustrations with the previous government. In their words, they were frustrated, disgusted and heartbroken. It got so bad that the then minister for senior Australians chose to attend an Ashes test match over a parliamentary inquiry into the COVID outbreak in nursing homes. We all remember what happened. They wanted a government that had some guts. And so the Labor Party went to the last election with a promise to reform aged care. Now, as the government, we are delivering on that promise with a $5.6 billion package that makes essential changes to improving the viability and quality of residential aged care.

We're also establishing Support at Home, a new system of home care which will help older Australians hold on to their independence and age in their own homes, and it will keep them part of the communities that they love and that love them so much too. Support at Home participants will see wait times reduced to three months by 2027. There will be more tailored support services, doubling the amount of ongoing classifications all the way up to almost $78,000 a year. We're going from four aged-care packages to eight. It's going to provide more flexibility and more choice, which is so important. There's support for home modifications, with up to $15,000 to make your home safer, and faster access to assistive technologies like wheelchairs and walkers. A no-worse-off principle will provide certainty to people already in aged care that they won't make a greater financial contribution to their care. The new contributions and accommodation arrangements will only apply to new entrants to residential care from 1 July 2025.

We are also introducing new laws to protect older Australians in aged care with stronger powers to investigate bad behaviour and civil penalties for breaching standards. We're introducing a statement of rights for older Australians in aged care with a positive duty of care for providers. They must uphold those rights. There's a new whistleblower protection coming, too, and regulatory powers and a new independent statutory complaints commissioner for aged care. We are taking these reforms very seriously.

Recently, I have been visiting some terrific aged-care facilities right across my seat of Paterson to talk with older Australians about the issues that matter to them. A visit to Salamander Haven Village just a couple of weeks ago was such a delight, and I've also been to Fingal Haven and Harbourside Haven. We talked about the future of the country. We talked about our economy and housing. We talked about online scams, how sophisticated they're becoming and how those scams make older Australians feel so incredibly vulnerable. They're not the only ones who feel vulnerable to them. They are, indeed, getting cleverer and better at trying to scam all of us.

However, these reforms for aged care are not the end goal. There is always more work to be done and improvements to be made in delivering quality results to this sector. That's why I love to see community engagement programs that deliver results. Salamander Haven are working towards improving food experiences through the magnificent Maggie Beer Foundation. We all saw what a wonderful job Maggie did on the ABC with trying to improve food and, more importantly, nutrition for our senior Australians. They've also been working with Tomaree High School with a program where students visit and spend time with the residents. These programs are enriching the lives of not only those living at Salamander Haven but those children from Tomaree High School who are just getting the most incredible experience of spending time with some of our most experienced Australians. It doesn't get any better than that. Those who live in aged-care centres and facilities deserve decency and respect, and I am incredibly pleased to be part of an Albanese Labor government that is delivering for aged care in Australia.