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

My question is to Senator Ludwig, the Minister representing the Minister for Ageing. My question relates to the open letter to the PM today around aged care, one which concerns the widening gap between the cost of delivering aged-care services and the funding provided by the federal government. I draw the minister’s attention to the stark figures of the provision of a 1.7 per cent indexation rate at a time when CPI is 2.9 per cent, the minimum wage rise of 4.8 per cent, the rising of utilities costs—for example, in WA—of up to 10 per cent, and the current pay equity case before Fair Work Australia. My question is: will the government immediately restore the 1.75 per cent conditional adjustment payment supplement for residential care, and also extend it to community care from 1 July this year?