Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Australian Greens amendment (3) on sheet 5796:

(3)    Schedule 1, item 16, page 18 (lines 13 to 18), omit subsection 198AA(3).

This amendment relates to the provisions around hospitalisation and seeks to extend the government’s amendments that remove the 63-day limit relating to care of children in hospital. Obviously, we support this bill. This provision is a very good one and we seek to extend it to adults. The same issues apply to carers of adults as apply to carers of children. Care does not stop just because the person you are giving care to is in hospital. As I articulated in my speech in the second reading debate, this is an issue that has been brought up with me repeatedly—that is, the concern that the limit for a person in hospital is 63 days.

I will pre-empt some comments that I know the government will make. The government will talk about respite care, but the point is that having someone cared for in hospital is not necessarily respite for the person doing the caring. They are still travelling to hospital, still caring for that person and looking after their needs. It is an extremely traumatic and stressful time for the person doing the caring as well. As I said, I can pre-empt what the government is going to say so that we can get to the debate a little bit quicker. I do not wear the argument that respite, just because it is offered, actually deals with the issues, because when a person is in hospital the carer is still caring for that person. We believe that, for the same reasons this amendment has provisions for the carer of a child, the process should be extended to the carer of an adult.

I also want to pre-empt the government by saying: yes, I know that you are going to be considering people caring for adults during the review. The same argument applies: we know this is an issue, so why not deal with it now? Why not provide that relief for carers now rather than next year, which is at least 12-18 months away? We can actually be helping carers now rather than waiting, because we know it is an issue. We know it is an issue, because it was brought up again during the Senate inquiry. As I said, it has been brought up repeatedly with me, particularly, I must say, by carers of older people and by older carers. It is very stressful when the person they are caring for is in hospital and they are still providing care. So the Greens strongly believe that the provisions could be and should be extended to those providing care for adults.