Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader (Tasmania)) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the latest waiting list for aged care home care packages indicates there are more than 100 000 vulnerable older Australians waiting for the home care package for which they have been approved,

  (ii) the latest figures showed the waiting list had grown by more than 12 000 between 1 July 2017 and 30 September 2017, and it is likely to continue growing without funding for the release of more packages,

  (iii) the majority of the older Australians on the waiting list are those waiting for level three and level four packages, who have high care needs, including many with dementia, and

  (iv) the Turnbull Government's own website states that most of these vulnerable older Australians will be waiting more than a year for a package;

(b) condemns the Turnbull Government for failing to fund a single new home care package in the 2017-18 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook update; and

(c) calls on the Turnbull Government to make a genuine commitment to fix the home care package waiting list and properly address this growing crisis.