Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Aged Care. In my regional electorate, elderly people face year-long waiting times for home-care packages. Provider shortages and long travel distances mean people are missing out on help showering, eating and taking medication. The situation is dire. I welcome the new Aged Care Act, but its implementation is still more than six months away. What is the government doing now to ensure older Australians can age safely and with dignity in their home?

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

I thank the member for Indi for her question. I agree with her that we need to do better by everybody in aged care. That is why we are bringing in once-in-a-generation reform, for which we are currently working through amendments in the other place. We hope very much to be able to deliver that as soon as possible for people like the people waiting for better care in your electorate.

What are we doing now? In the budget, we funded more than $500 million worth of home-care packages to the tune of 24,500 new packages. They are rolling out. We expect more 15,500 to be rolled out by the end of this month. Those are rolling out consistently in this last year, before 1 July when the new Support at Home regime is due to begin.

As you'd know, because I know you take keen interest in this, when Support at Home is introduced, there are measures in there to address the particular nuanced challenges of regional areas and thin markets in regional areas like yours. There will be $600 million all up to assist Support at Home providers who are in thin markets to address their particular issues when it comes to financial viability. Starting from 1 July 2025, grants will be there to support service delivery in rural and remote locations, like those that you represent, for people with diverse back grounds and people with diverse life experiences.

We also included in our budget this year, whilst we were still working to land these once-in-a-generation reforms, $21.6 million for regional, rural and remote focused home-care workforce support. I know you've spoken to me before about the crippling workforce shortages in your area. We recognise that. We put an extra $21.6 million in there to attract 4,000 new workers to the home-care sector. We're going to keep viability supplements available where home-care packages are provided to carer recipients in the modified Monash model 4 to 7 locations.

You'll be aware that the now $15 billion pay rise for aged-care workers has been having a really good effect, particularly in remote areas. Every single human resource statistic is up. People are staying. People are coming back to aged care. I know a provider who looks after rural and remote areas said the turnover in his service has dropped 40 per cent since the pay rise because people are coming and staying in home care.

These are all the things that we are doing to try and keep the system on track until 1 July. We really hope that come 1 July next year people like the people you represent will really feel the once-in-a-generation reforms that we've worked so hard to deliver.