Judith Adams (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take part in this debate on the motion to take note of answers, and in particular I refer to the answers given by the Minister for Ageing, Senator Santoro. It is important to remind those opposite of the system that the Australian government has in place for the monitoring of residential aged-care homes for compliance with their obligations under the Aged Care Act 1997. The act states that approved providers are responsible for meeting the accreditation standards, which include meeting the individual care needs of their residents.

It is very important that the resident must come first. Issues of concern are acted upon promptly and monitored until compliance is achieved. On occasion, for example, due to management issues or staff changes, there can be unexpected lapses in care. However, poor care is never acceptable, whatever the circumstances, and in these cases sanctions action must be taken.

The department may impose sanctions in a range of circumstances, including where there is a continued failure to comply with the obligations of the Aged Care Act 1997 or where there is an immediate and severe risk to the health and safety of residents. In determining whether there is an immediate and severe risk to the safety, health and wellbeing of residents, the department must consider the information that the agency has identified during their visit to a home. In most instances where immediate sanctions are imposed, the agency has determined that the noncompliance is a serious risk.

During 2005-06 the department imposed 12 sanctions. There are currently six homes under sanctions. Five of the homes are operating and one no longer has any care recipients. Information on sanctions imposed is available on the Department of Health and Ageing sanctions website once all residents and relatives have been advised of the sanctions being imposed on their homes. This is a very practical way of dealing with things, because no-one likes to see headlines in the newspapers regarding homes that do not qualify under the standards having sanctions put on them without their first being notified.

At the end of June this year, 2,937 residential aged-care homes were accredited Australia-wide. The majority of the homes—2,727, which is 93 per cent—received at least three years accreditation. During 2005-06 the agency and department undertook 5,495 visits to homes, including 1,070 unannounced visits. Since 2000 the agency and department have conducted in excess of 22,000 visits to aged-care homes, which includes over 4,500 spot checks. When I visited a frail aged facility in Port Hedland the spot check assessors had arrived just before me, so it was a really good opportunity for me to be able to discuss what they were doing and, to the delight of the authorities and the residents of that home, it passed with flying colours. They were very happy to have the assessors there because they could learn from other people who may have different ideas. You can speak to the assessors and probably obtain information that you may not otherwise have been able to get. So it is a win-win situation for both parties—for the assessors to take ideas to another facility and for the facility that is being spot checked to be given information that may help it in the future.

Recently announced measures will provide greater protection for residents and improve the overall quality of care delivered in Australian government subsidised aged-care services. These measures include more frequent unannounced inspections of aged-care homes by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency, in order to provide for about 3,000 unannounced visits each year, and ensuring that all homes will receive at least one unannounced visit each year. This is a very valuable tool and, as I said, it can be a reciprocal arrangement in that information— (Time expired)