Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank all senators for their contributions in this debate on the Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022. This is a really important bill that delivers on some key election commitments of the Albanese government, so we're very pleased to have this legislation before the Senate so early in the term. More importantly, this bill will also deliver the care that our older Australians need and the support that our aged-care workforce deserves.

At the outset, I'd like to thank officials from the ANMF who are in the gallery today and Glen O'Driscoll, an aged-care nurse who I know has been very involved in the discussions around this bill. Thank you for representing the many thousands of nurses who work in aged care and have needed, for a long time, a government that backed them and provided the support that they deserve so they can fully care for our older Australians, and thank you for your participation in this really important bill.

As I say, this bill makes important practical changes to the delivery of aged-care services and provides greater transparency on what funds are being used for. The measures in this bill put the quality of care and safety of older Australians first, just as the Albanese Labor government has committed to do. The bill introduces a new responsibility for approved providers of residential aged care and of specified kinds of flexible care to have a registered nurse on site and on duty at every residential facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from 1 July 2023. This will save thousands of unnecessary trips to hospital emergency departments and will ensure that older Australians living in residential aged care have access to the nursing care they deserve.

I remember talking about this policy in the run-up to the last election, and I think most Australians were shocked to learn that there was no requirement for residential aged-care facilities to have a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unfortunately, that was one of the legacies left by the former government's regulation of aged care, and it's one of the factors that contributed to some of the appalling incidents we saw in aged-care facilities around the country.

I know very well, from spending time in aged-care facilities, that the staff there work incredibly hard but just haven't had the resources that they need to be able to provide the care they want to provide residents of aged-care facilities. The change we're making in this legislation will go a long way to doing that.

I note that some of the contributions from opposition senators questioned the ability to deliver on this promise in rural and regional areas. That is a serious issue, and I noticed Senator Brockman talking about the difficulty that rural and regional providers have in obtaining staff and housing. I've got to say: this is exactly the problem that has arisen as a result of 10 years of neglect of the aged-care system.

For an opposition senator to now be saying that we can't do what we need to do for our older Australians because of problems in skills and problems in housing—well, I'm sorry, but the opposition had 10 years to do something about these issues and failed to do so. We finally have a government that is prepared to make the regulatory changes required and back it up with real resourcing, to fix the problems in the aged-care system that the last government left for 10 years.

We are conscious that there are massive skill shortages in the aged-care sector, and they have grown over 10 years of doing nothing by the former government. That's why we have already established a wide range of programs to support providers to attract and retain staff. These were things the former government never did in the 10 years that they had to do something about this.

For example, the Workforce Advisory Service is available to assist providers attract, retain and build the skills of their workers. Subsidised vocational education and training places are widely available to train personal care workers, and the Rural Locum Assistance Program supports providers with recruitment challenges. Initiatives specifically aimed at nurses include a transition to practice in aged care for newly graduated nurses, scholarships and the nurses' retention payment, and local guidance is provided through the department's regional stewardship network.

Another thing that the former government failed to do in the 10 years that it was in power was do anything about the wages of aged-care workers. They wouldn't even take a position when the case was taken for the wage rise that aged-care workers were seeking. I was incredibly pleased to see the Albanese Labor government make a submission to the Fair Work Commission in support of increased wages for aged-care workers, and, of course, we have committed to funding the outcome of the case.

Rather than the hand-wringing that we see from some members of the opposition, saying that this is all too hard and can't be done, this government is actually stepping up to the plate and doing things that the former government didn't do in the 10 years they had to do something while in power. We're serious about fixing the skill shortage in aged care. We're serious about making sure that older Australians get the care that they deserve. That's why we're introducing this bill and making a lot more resourcing available to the sector.

We acknowledge that there are going to be challenges in some rural and regional environments, and that's why this bill sets up a system to provide exemptions for the rare cases where this requirement can't be met and the process for that to be worked through between the department and individual providers. We acknowledge that it's going to be a challenge, but we're putting significant resourcing into this to back up this commitment. Again, that's something the former government failed to do in any one of its 10 years in office.

Beyond the provisions about 24-hour nursing, from 1 January 2023 this bill also introduces powers to enable the government to cap administration and management charges for older Australians receiving a home-care package and removes the ability to charge care recipients for ceasing care. There is currently little transparency in how providers set their prices for care and package management, and there is no cap on how much they can charge.

The royal commission heard that some providers were charging up to 50 per cent of home-care package funding for administration and management. The bill will provide the means to ensure high levels of administration and management charges reduce, to stop the rorting and to make sure that the maximum amount of funds instead go directly towards meeting people's care needs. Again, this is something that should have been done by the former government, but it's taken the election of a new Labor government to actually make change on this front.

Finally, the bill will also include amendments relating to the transparency of providers' financial information and other valuable information about providers' operations. This will empower older Australians and their families to make more informed choices about their care and will make transparent to taxpayers how aged-care funds are being used.

In wrapping up, the Minister for Aged Care would also like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee members for their time and contributions in the consideration of this bill and the subsequent report. The minister wants to reassure those who have taken the time to participate in these processes that we've heard you and the issues you've raised. As a result, the government moved a number of amendments which clarify some points which would otherwise be in subordinate legislation.

The minister would like to thank Senator David Pocock and his office for their productive engagement on these amendments, as well as all members and senators who have engaged with the minister and her team.

The government acknowledges comments raised during the inquiry process around ensuring appropriate levels of consultation for the delegated legislation. We agree that there should be consultation about the detail, and there will be.

In relation to the recommendation made by the Australian Greens in the inquiry report, the government consulted broadly, during the drafting of both the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act as well as this bill, including with aged-care providers and allied health specialists. The government supports robust consultation and will continue to consult with the sector and invite commentary on subordinate legislation moving forward.

We also acknowledge recommendation 4 made by Senator Pocock in relation to introducing a review mechanism for exemption decisions. We agree and the Quality of Care Principles 2014 will be amended to provide for a decision of the secretary to grant an exemption to be a reviewable decision for the purposes of the Aged Care Act 1997 in accordance with existing provisions around reviewable decisions.

The government is committed to driving meaningful aged-care reform and will continue to work through the details with the sector, unions, older Australians and our colleagues in this chamber and in this parliament. We want to do this reform once and do it well for a lasting, positive impact on people's lives, and that will require us all to work together to make that happen. Again, this bill is another step towards fixing the terrible problems that were left to us and left to Australians in the aged-care system by the Liberals and Nationals. This is a very good piece of legislation and I encourage all senators to support it.