Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday Senator McLucas asked me a number of questions about aged-care places. I undertook to provide to the Senate any further detail that I could. I can report the Minister for Ageing tabled a report in the House of Representatives yesterday which exonerates the former Minister for Ageing, Senator Santo Santoro, of any wrongdoing. Furthermore, Varsity Aged Care’s application was assessed with all applications in the 2006 aged-care approvals round. The allocation of aged-care places to Varsity Aged Care was not made until the department undertook all necessary checks including those necessary to approve its application to be an approved provider of aged care. This has recently been completed. The decisions to grant approved provider status to Varsity Aged Care and to allocate it places were made by the Department of Health and Ageing.

Varsity Aged Care is a separate legal entity to the McKenzie Aged Care Group, the approved provider who operates Armitage Manor. The department was aware, when it took its decision to grant approved provider status and allocate places to Varsity, that there are key personnel in common with another provider, the McKenzie Aged Care Group. The McKenzie Aged Care Group operates the manor. The department took into account all relevant facts, in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Aged Care Act 1997, in making its decisions, including the compliance history of the McKenzie Aged Care Group. The department noted that past problems in relation to Armitage Manor have been successfully resolved and the home currently has three-year accreditation.