Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak about the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill 2022. Firstly, I would like to set the scene for senators. In January 2020, our lives changed. Australians were about to face the first global pandemic in a century. Just as our country had endured the worst bushfires since Black Saturday, uncertainty swept the nation. It will be no surprise to Australians that the then-prime minister was nowhere to be seen, because, when Australians needed him most, he buried his head in the sand. By the time COVID reached Australian shores, cities and states around the country were facing the prospect of long, hard and lonely lockdowns. States and territories closed their borders. Many families began what would be years of separation. Australians were dying, aged-care homes were facing outbreak after outbreak and residents were left at risk, with families preparing for the worst.

It wasn't until February of 2021 that Australians began being vaccinated for COVID, months after vaccines had started to go into the arms of people in other developed nations. And then, to no surprise to any Australian, the government did not order enough vaccines. When vaccines did finally arrive, our most vulnerable were forgotten. Getting vaccines into arms was what was the former government called the key priority of 2021, and they failed early.

Two months on from when doses finally started going into the arms of aged-care residents and workers, only 10 per cent of the private aged-care workforce had received a vaccine. Aged-care residents were isolated for longer, workers left with the fear of accidentally introducing the virus into facilities and families left separated from their loved ones for much longer than necessary.

It breaks my heart to hear the number of lives lost to the virus in aged-care homes. Well over 3,000 families have lost members, and the former government simply treated them as statistics. The former government neglected aged-care residents, workers and our entire community for the best part of a decade while they were in government, leading to the royal commission into aged care. Older Australians worked hard all whole lives, contributing to our communities and our nation. All Australians deserve dignity in their frailer years.

That is why I rise today to commend the aged-care bill before us. A Labor government has done exactly what we said we would do. This bill implements many of our government's urgent election commitments that put security, dignity and humanity back into aged care through urgent funding and safety reforms. Aged-care workers are dedicated, caring individuals working in challenging environments across the country. Aged-care workers could take home a larger pay cheque by stacking shelves at Woolies than they currently get for caring for vulnerable Australians. This government is a government that will advocate for all workers to be valued and for their pay to reflect just that. That is why this government acted swiftly to write to the Fair Work Commission for permission to lodge a submission to support a pay rise for aged-care workers. This submission is well underway and we will be delivered to the Fair Work Commission by 8 August.

It will shock Australians to know that 24 per cent of aged-care facilities do not have a nurse on site for 24 hours a day, leaving some of our community's most vulnerable without the care many residents, families and the community expect them to receive. The bills introduced to parliament will legislate that providers of residential care of specified kinds of flexible care must have a registered nurse on site and on duty at each facility for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In doing so, older Australians will have access to the care they need when they need it. This will save thousands of unnecessary trips to hospital emergency departments and ensure that older Australians living in residential aged care have access to the nursing care they deserve.

Finally, is putting a dedicated facility based registered nurse in the room—not over the phone or with the responsibility of looking after three or four facilities. Through extending the availability of registered nurses in aged-care facilities, the government is committed to ensuring quality care. This bill would legislate a new code of conduct for the aged-care workforce that will set high standards of behaviour to ensure that care is delivered in a safe, competent and respectful way. The bill legislates for the creation of a comprehensive worker registration scheme; in the meantime, criminal history checks will remain for workers entering the aged-care sector.

This bill replaces the outdated Aged Care Funding Instrument with a new model for calculating aged-care subsidies. The new body will be titled the Australian National Aged Care Classification care funding model, which has been developed in consultation with the aged-care sector and consumer groups. Funding under the new Australian National Aged Care Classification model will commence on 1 October 2022.

The bill makes a series of much-needed structural changes that will improve the health, wellbeing and safety of older Australians. The bill will also assist older Australians and their families to have a better understanding of care requirements, and the operation of the providers. On top of this, the Albanese government is taking swift action to enhance the protection of older Australians living in aged care. The government's aged-care response is working to enhance the safety of workers and visitors in homes, and introducing infection control training.

The government is committed to integrity and transparency in the aged-care sector, introducing measures to hold providers to account about what they are spending money on and other information about provider operations. Through this bill, a star-rating system will be published on all residential aged-care services by the end of 2022. Publicly available information ensures families and future residents are able to make informed decisions about the facility they are moving into. The information will provide an honest contrast to the flashy fliers and advertisements. Further, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority will be renamed to reflect a change of scope to include provisions of advice on health care, aged care, pricing and costing. These important measures respond to public concerns—concerns that embody the sentiment of residents and workers in aged care.

This government is set to deliver 17 recommendations from the royal commission through the first two pieces of aged-care legislation. The former government could only manage nine. This government has acted swiftly and will legislate real changes that will improve the lives of residents in aged care and the incredibly important and dedicated people who work with them. Unlike the former government, Labor is getting on with the job. This bill brings back care into the heart of aged care, and I commend the bill to the Senate.