Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Ageing (Senator Santoro) to questions without notice asked by Senators McLucas and Forshaw today relating to aged care.

Six years ago Australians were horrified at the revelations that elderly residents in residential aged care were subjected to kerosene baths, that residents were neglected and that the care that was being provided was far from standard. Confidence six years ago in Australia’s aged care system was seriously undermined. The minister at the time, Mrs Bishop, convened meetings, consulted and set in place systems that she said were designed to protect vulnerable Australians in residential aged care. And here we are in 2006 with horrific allegations of elder abuse in residential aged care—allegations that have horrified every single one of us whether or not we have a relative in aged care. The allegations in Victoria and in Queensland have once again shaken the confidence that Australians have in our aged care system.

The response from the Minister for Ageing today—and, I might say, last week—was one of the best applications that I have ever seen for a scriptwriter for the TV program Yes Minister. Despite his assurances, the minister did not respond openly, transparently or, in my view, honestly to questions put to him in question time today. I asked the minister why no action was taken after relatives of the alleged victim wrote to the department in May 2005 complaining about neglect and asking why the department had not acted in the way that they can.

Under the Aged Care Act it is quite possible for an allegation that has been sent to the department or the minister to be sent, through the department, to the standards agency. That option was not taken, but the minister did not use question time today to explain to the community why it did not happen. As we know, it is quite possible for that to occur. Senator Santoro did advise the Senate that the investigation by the department will be concluded this week. He then obfuscated—he was not clear—about what was going to happen to that report. I call on the minister to make that investigation public, to provide it to the Senate, so that confidence in our aged care system can start to be restored in the community.

I further asked the minister about an aged care facility in Queensland—the Immanuel Gardens Nursing Home. I asked him to confirm reports that the carer involved in the allegations got another job at another nearby residential aged care facility after he got the sack from the first one. The minister did not even attempt to clarify that situation. We have to make sure that confidence in aged care can be restored. It is encumbent upon the minister to use the opportunity of question time, to use the opportunity whenever possible, to restore confidence in aged care by coming clean—by telling people what has happened, by telling people what his department has and has not done and by telling people what he and the previous minister have done.

The minister did explain that on 11 and 12 August 2005 an examination of Immanuel Gardens Nursing Home was undertaken—and now, at the end of February 2006, finally, sanctions have been imposed. That is on top of the fact that the report that was done in August 2005 said that the problems were systemic, that they had been going on for three years. So the report said that these problems had occurred and then the department did not act promptly. It has been seven months since the first inspection happened and we finally have a response this week.

I reject absolutely the minister’s assertion that the Labor Party or in fact anyone involved in this matter is trying to politicise this issue. Aged care is a significant sector of the care component of the Australian community. We have to be confident in it. It is our job as the opposition to monitor the actions of government—and I take that job seriously. But the bottom line is: it is the minister’s responsibility to restore confidence in aged care—and we are providing that opportunity. (Time expired)