Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

This is the first chance I've had to talk in the chamber following the election result and the sitting of the new parliament. Nothing brings home the responsibility more, for what my party confronts now that we are in government, than fixing the crisis that we were left in aged care. So it is fitting that this is the first bit of legislation that we have before us in the Senate.

It also reinforces, for me, the challenge that we face as a government and the faith that the Australian people have put in us to do that, and also the people who are responsible for that. The member for Lilley happens to be my local member and has taken on the responsibility as minister in this area. It's an important job, it's one that I am more than confident she is up to and it's one where she has started so well. I get the sense, from the travel that she has done and the consultation that she has undertaken, that it has all been of an urgent nature, but it is the work that is required to get legislation like this right, and it is important legislation that we are talking about today.

I note the contribution from some of those opposite and the former minister. They're trying to recreate the history around why a royal commission was called into aged care, and trying to take credit for it by saying it was one of the things that only they were able to do. It's important we don't lose sight of what the motivations were behind the former Prime Minister when he called that royal commission. If you go back, it was not long after former Prime Minister Morrison rolled Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister and he called a royal commission.

It was one of the first moves we saw from 'Scotty from marketing' that we were to become used to. He called this royal commission not because he wanted to fix the aged-care crisis. All he wanted to do was move it beyond that election cycle, which was due in about six months time. So what did he do?

He called a royal commission not because he wanted to fix the challenges but because he wanted to avoid taking responsibility before the 2019 election. That was his motivation in that, and it became a theme for the former Prime Minister. It was obviously one that cost them at the election. It was the first sign of someone who wanted to avoid responsibility—who didn't want to take on the job as Prime Minister and actually do the hard work of reform that was needed.

We saw that aged care was in crisis before 2019, but it was really laid bare how bad it was and what a significant crisis it was when COVID hit, with the devastation that we saw in many parts of the country with residents in aged care and the lack of ability of those policies to respond to ensure that those elderly Australians who were in those residences were treated with the dignity and respect that they deserved.

I think there's a lot of contrast between the current government and the former government. In the agenda for the Albanese Labor government, what we want to deliver on and how we acknowledge the challenges that we're facing—whether it be aged care or whether it be the economy, as we're seeing from the Treasurer in the other place right now—we're being upfront with the Australian people. We are actually saying what the challenges that we are confronting are and what steps we are taking to fix these problems.

There's a real stark contrast between Minister Wells and what we saw from former Minister Colbeck. In his performance in question time in the previous parliament, he would try and give this air of confidence—'Everything's under control, we're dealing with it, we're doing these things, and it's all going to be okay'—when the reality on the ground was different. We all received correspondence in our offices or dealt with people, I'm sure, who would be able to tell you their heartfelt stories of what they were confronting for an elderly relative or a friend who they cared for so deeply. In contrast, the current minister is someone who has acknowledged that there is a crisis in aged care; has said what the steps are that need to be taken to fix it; has been out there in aged-care homes every week since the minister was appointed; and has outlined a clear reform agenda, building on what we took to the election but also responding to the immediate impacts of what the nation is confronting with COVID at the same time and particularly in nursing homes.

We know about the 23 reports. We know about the royal commission. But we see the stark difference in government now, with a minister, a Prime Minister and a government that are actually taking on the challenge in aged care and doing the things that are necessary to ensure that we can provide long-term reform and that the aged-care system is one that Australians can be proud of, so that those Australians who have relatives or friends in aged care can know that there is a robust system that is going to look after those people.

The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill 2022, which the government is introducing, is to respond to the decade of neglect under the previous government. They failed to implement all the recommendations of the royal commission report that was titled Neglect. As Minister Wells said in the other place yesterday, there have been 23 reports, inquiries, studies, committee reports and a royal commission which all told us consistently the same thing. There has been a decade of inaction for a system that is in crisis, one that needed support and that received nothing from the previous government.

The bill shows the priority of this government is to act on aged care. It was something that the Prime Minister talked about consistently for the last term of opposition but also something that was a focus point for the now-government during the election campaign. We are delivering on our promise to the Australian people to treat older Australians with the respect that they deserve. We know the role that older Australians have played in building this country, working hard to contribute to society, and they deserve that dignity and respect as they get later in life. For many years, the previous government showed that reforming and fixing aged care was not the high priority that it should be. You only need to look at the performance of the former minister and compare that to what we are seeing from the current Albanese Labor government. The contrast could not be more stark.

During the campaign, I met with aged-care workers and workers in aged care through parts of regional Queensland, and they told me firsthand the significant challenges in this sector and what years of lack of support has meant to them and what it has meant to people living in those facilities. Some of the workers I met with have been working in aged care for decades, and I was happy to convey our thanks, as a senator for Queensland, for the work that they have been doing. These people are really committed to the care of elderly Australians.

This bill will implement a series of urgent funding, quality and safety measures, many of which were recommended by the royal commission. The legislation will introduce several key measures that will ensure older Australians are protected, measures that have been delayed for too long under the previous government, including the Serious Incident Response Scheme, which will be expanded to establish obligations on approved providers of home care and flexible care in a community setting, to report and respond to incidents, and to take action to prevent incidents from reoccurring.

A new code of conduct will set high standards of behaviour for aged-care workers, approved providers and governing persons of approved providers to ensure they are delivering aged care in a way that is safe, competent and respectful. Improved information sharing between care and support sector regulators will enable proactive monitoring of cross-sector risks and better protection of consumers and participants from harm. An interim solution for the provision of consent to the use of restrictive practices will also be established while state and territory consent arrangements are reconsidered. The bill will also increase transparency and accountability for providers as well.

The legislation has the important support of many organisations in the sector. The Council on the Ageing said:

These Bills are crucial steps in a reform process that when fully implemented will ensure Australia will finally enjoy the quality aged care system all older Australians deserve … and to have them introduced today is testament to the fact that Aged Care Minister Anika Wells, strongly supported by Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler, has hit the ground running in her new portfolio.

The Health Services Union said:

Our industry will not be fixed overnight and will require significantly greater resources. But we are confident Minister Wells is headed in the right direction.

For too long, the aged care system has exploited the time and goodwill of an underpaid, insecurely employed workforce largely made up of women. For the first time there is a crack of light at the end of the tunnel.

Catholic Health Australia has said:

Legislation introduced today really fires the starting gun on reform. This is long overdue and our members welcome the fact that the Albanese Government is serious about improving care for the elderly … in our society.

Opal Healthcare said:

We are delighted to see the new bill will enshrine mandated standards for all aged care providers, including the requirement for all care communities across Australia to have a registered nurse on duty 24-hours a day.

That's something, by the way, that the former minister took umbrage with, and that was one of the reasons why this legislation has been delayed—because of an amendment that the previous Labor opposition was able to get passed in the Senate requiring that, which is why they delayed actually passing this legislation in the previous parliament.

So this legislation is an important first step in turning around the neglect that we have seen over the last 10 years. Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister is committed to it, and I'm confident in the ability of Minister Wells to take the steps necessary so that all Australians can retire in dignity and comfort, which is what they deserve. This is an important part of the incoming government's agenda. It's something on which we made a series of promises, and it's something that we are absolutely committed to delivering, and I expect the Australian people will be holding us to account.

The performance of the previous minister and the fact that he is still trying to create this myth about not only the role that he played previously, whether it be the royal commission, as I highlighted at the start, but also his attack during his speech just then on the treatment of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations as part of this legislation, is quite disgraceful. For him to try to suggest that these changes are going to result in a lower standard of care for elderly Aboriginal Australians is a disgraceful thing for him to suggest in this parliament. A key part of closing the gap that the previous government paid lip-service to is about ensuring that those Aboriginal controlled organisations actually take the responsibility for improving those standards themselves, whether it be in health, the community sector or in aged care. So for him to try and allude that this is going to in some way result in standards slipping is a disgraceful thing for the previous minister, given his status, to actually do. I just wanted to ensure that that was on the record and not let this myth be created—like those opposite are trying to do on royal commissions and on other things—that this isn't something that we haven't thought of. We have confidence in those community organisations to do the right thing by their communities, which is exactly what this government is about.