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

I rise tonight to contribute to the debate on the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 1) Bill 2020, which introduces the first phase of changes to the way home-care subsidy payments are made to home-care providers. This bill changes the payment of home-care subsidies to providers from being made in advance to being made in arrears, and it's part of a package approach here. It takes a first step in addressing issues around the $750 million in unspent funds currently being held by home-care providers. Unspent funds are problematic because they are used by providers as part of their working capital to generate interest or held in trust by a third party. This phase of changes is set to commence from February 2021.

Our understanding is that the majority of providers won't need to make changes to their payment systems to accommodate these changes. The government has stated that home-care providers who have concerns about the impact of these changes on their financial viability will be eligible for transition support funding and business advisory supports. The Australian Greens will be following this very closely to ensure that providers who are financially vulnerable and operate in thin markets get the support they need to adjust to these changes. We are particularly concerned about those providers in thin markets. Obviously, that is rural, regional and remote providers. We're particularly concerned to make sure that they aren't significantly impacted by these changes.

We do support this approach because, as I said earlier, there are concerns about the large amount of money that is being held in advance payments by providers. We don't want to see providers failing because of poor transition processes. Those that have poor processes may be affected by this and will need to improve their processes, but we don't want to see providers unduly affected by these measures, despite the fact that we do support the basic idea of moving to a different form of payment.

We'll also be watching closely to ensure that changes from both phases—phase 1 and the next phase—do not adversely impact the outcomes for older people and their families. Of course that's absolutely critical. By changing the way that providers receive home-care subsidies, this bill will introduce accountability and transparency to home-care funding—something that's desperately needed. In exactly the same way, we need transparency and accountability improved for residential care as well. This is critical in ensuring that the aged-care system better services and supports the needs of older Australians and that Australians know how the money we are investing in home care and residential care is being spent to support older Australians.

It would be remiss of me not to point out the fact that we still need additional home-care packages. There's absolutely no doubt that the waiting list is still far too long. People have to wait far too long to get the right level of care that they need. Today I'm calling on the government to act immediately to address this issue in home care. As recommended by counsel assisting the royal commission, we need to clear the home-care package waiting list by December next year. Older Australians who need support at home should have universal access based on need, not based on capped places or funding. It is critical that we address these issues to ensure that older Australians can access the care they need when they need it, where they need it and where they want it. If they want to stay at home and receive care at home, they need to be able to access the level of care they need, not go onto a lower package and wait until they can access a higher level of care.

Having said that, the Greens do support this bill. We will, as I articulated, be watching very carefully to ensure that those providers that are financially vulnerable, particularly those in thin market areas, are not adversely affected by these changes and that, most particularly, older Australians get a better deal out of this process. They cannot be worse off. We expect to see them in a much better position. We will be supporting this bill, but we'll be watching the transition process very carefully.