Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill makes a series of amendments to aged care and other laws to implement several time-critical measures that are aimed at improving Commonwealth funded aged care for older Australians, and I thank other senators for their contributions to this debate today. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety heard evidence regarding substandard care throughout its inquiry. This bill supports reforms that will give back to older Australians the dignity, respect and safety they deserve. The royal commission's final report made 148 recommendations to overhaul the aged-care system. While the new aged-care act and significant change are around the corner, this bill makes some critical reforms that cannot wait any longer.

Importantly, the bill introduces many reforms aimed at directly improving protections for older Australians. The bill will introduce a new subsidy calculation method to fund approved providers and replace the outdated Aged Care Funding Instrument from 1 October 2022. It also introduces new requirements for the secretary to publish information in relation to star ratings, as recommended by the royal commission. Publication of star ratings based on measurable performance indicators will allow older Australians and their families to make meaningful comparisons of the quality and safety of services and providers. The implementation of the code of conduct is the government's first step towards implementing a national registration scheme in accordance with the royal commission's recommendations. The code will set high standards of behaviour across the aged-care sector and ensure that the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is able to take appropriate enforcement and compliance action against approved providers, their workers and governing persons who fail to meet appropriate standards of behaviour. This will ensure that older Australians provided with care can have confidence in the workforce and be safeguarded by regulatory arrangements.

The bill extends the scope of the Serious Incident Response Scheme beyond residential care to home care and flexible care delivered in a home or community setting. This will improve oversight of providers and ensure the highest protections against incidents of abuse and neglect for all Commonwealth-supported aged-care recipients, regardless of the setting in which they receive care. The amendments will also strengthen the governance of approved providers. The transparency and accountability of providers will be improved through more rigorous requirements for providers and governing bodies and through consumers having greater access to information about the operations of providers. The amendments will give older Australians and the community greater assurance that approved providers and their key personnel are suitable to be involved in delivering care.

The bill will facilitate the sharing of information among relevant prescribed Commonwealth bodies about providers and workers across the care and support sector who may not be complying with their obligations. Improved information-sharing between care and support sector regulators will enable proactive monitoring of cross-sector risks and better protection from harm of consumers and participants. The bill also includes amendments that enhance financial oversight and accountability and prudential regulation, which will ultimately protect the rights of older Australians, support continuity of services and enhance the viability of residential providers. Expanded functions of the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority to include the provision of advice on pricing and costing matters for health care, not just hospitals, and the provision of advice on aged-care pricing matters, will support transparency and evidence based assessment of the costs involved in delivering care.

The bill will enable the strengthening of safeguards for consumers in relation to the use of restrictive practices and the requirement for informed consent to be provided before they can be used. Specifically, the bill will enable the Quality of Care Principles to clarify the existing term 'restrictive practices substitute decision-maker', and provide pathways for residential care providers to safely and legally obtain consent for the use of restrictive practices where the care recipients themselves cannot provide consent and where this may be otherwise prevented due to gaps in state and territory legislation.

These amendments have been developed as a result of significant consultation with stakeholders, as well as through the extensive consultation undertaken during the royal commission. I again thank senators for their contributions to the debate on this bill, and I commend the bill to the Senate.