Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT) are teams of professionals that are based in hospitals across the country and are responsible for assessing which older Australians should receive government-funded care,

  (ii) the Morrison Government has announced it wants to privatise the ACAT workforce from April 2021, when a tender will be put out for organisations to deliver this vital assessment,

  (iii) the New South Wales (NSW) Liberal Minister for Health and Medical Research, Mr Brad Hazzard, has said that the Morrison Government's decision to privatise these services lacks "logic" and that "NSW has major concerns",

  (iv) no consultation was undertaken by the Morrison Government to inform its NSW Liberal colleagues of the decision to privatise aged care assessment services, and

  (v) there has also been criticism about the Morrison Government wanting to privatise assessment services by highly regarded experts across the aged care sector;

(b) supports the retention of ACATs as a publicly, independently provided service;

(c) opposes the privatisation of the ACAT workforce; and

(d) condemns the Morrison Government for its continued piecemeal approach to aged care policy.