Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bernardi for his very thoughtful question and I would like to go on the record as saying that, in his short time in the Senate, Senator Bernardi has been a very energetic advocate for the aged-care sector of South Australia. The Howard government has a strong record of working cooperatively with the state and territory governments to improve services to older Australians.

I am pleased to inform the Senate that this collaborative approach to service provision is continuing in my portfolio of ageing. After nearly 12 months of constructive negotiations I have today written to my state and territory counterparts with the offer of a new agreement for the ongoing operation of the Home and Community Care, or HACC, program. This financial year HACC funding will be about $1.5 billion, with the Commonwealth contributing 60 per cent, or more than $900 million of these funds. As my colleagues here would know, the HACC program is a joint venture between the Australian government and the states and territories. With the cooperation of the state and territory governments this year we will be supporting more than 750,000 frail older Australians as well as younger people with disabilities in their own homes.

As I announced in July this year, this new agreement will include a $30 million bonus pool of new money designed to further improve national consistency of the HACC program and reduce red tape. Because of the cooperative nature of the negotiations to date, I am confident of an early sign-off by my colleagues in the states and territories on the offer that I have sent to them today.

HACC is just one area in which the Howard government is working closely with the states and territories to deliver quality services for older and frail Australians. In 2004 the government established the transition care program, a joint project with the states and territories that helps older people return home after being discharged from hospital. I am currently in the process of working with my state and territory counterparts to announce the third allocation of places under the program. We have now allocated 2,000 places under the transition care program, in line with our 2004 budget commitment.

A further example of cooperation across levels of government is the recent tripartite agreement in Tasmania between the Commonwealth government, the state government and the Local Government Association of Tasmania.