Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I know you do not want to listen to the sector, Senator Fifield, so I do not expect you to listen to my contribution. But the stories that I have heard from aged care providers about the people with severe symptoms of dementia that they care for are disheartening, to say the least. One particular facility in Canberra has shared some of the most heartbreaking stories with me recently. The story of one man, who we will for today call Jack, was one of many that I found confronting and sad. Jack was a loving husband and father before dementia took hold, and not long after that he began displaying severe psychological and behavioural problems. He was no longer the person that his family, friends and loved ones remembered. After entering the residential facility he would harass the aged-care staff—slapping one across the face, putting his hand up the skirt of another—and abusing many people who came to see him. Sadly, those visits became fewer and fewer as his behaviour deteriorated. He just was not the same person anymore.