Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Inspector-General of Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023. The Albanese government hasn't wasted any opportunity to act on the systematic issues in the aged-care system that we inherited from the previous government.

I must commend Minister Anika Wells, the industry and the unions—including the Health Services Union, the United Workers Union and the Nursing and Midwifery Federation—for their work in reforming this country's aged-care system to make it work better for those needing care and showing respect to the workforce. This includes responding to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which those opposite dragged their feet over while older Australians were being treated abhorrently and aged-care workers were being treated like second-class citizens.

In our first year in government, we've embarked on more than 100 reform policies and projects in aged care. That's more than 100 reform projects in just 12 months. That includes legislating having registered nurses in aged-care homes 24/7; funding a 15 per cent pay increase for aged-care workers; introducing a star rating system so residents and families can make informed decisions about their choice of care; and increasing the amount of time of care each aged-care resident receives. Together, these measures will meaningfully improve conditions for both aged-care workers and older Australians receiving care, most importantly.

This is despite the Liberals' and Nationals' attempts to slow the progress made by our government. We've been able to make lifechanging changes to the system for workers and older Australians, but there is still more to do. This bill allows for the appointment of an independent Inspector-General of Aged Care, which will drive accountability and transparency across the system. Accountability and transparency in aged care are key pillars of the promises we made to the Australian people, and this legislation is about holding ourselves to the same high standards we're asking of the sector. The inspector-general will be responsible for monitoring the administration and regulation of the aged-care sector as well as monitoring, reviewing and reporting to the minister, parliament and public the progress of implementing the recommendations of the royal commission report.

Accountability and transparency in aged care would be concepts those opposite are unfamiliar with. They sat on the report of the royal commission for 18 months and took the title, Neglect, a little too literally. They presided over a worsening crisis in aged care which not only impacted older Australians but allowed for a race to the bottom of working conditions for those working in the sector. Through the Select Committee on Job Security, I heard from workers in aged care across the country about the systemic issues in aged care, including understaffing of facilities and workers pushed to their absolute breaking points. Tracey Colbert, an aged-care worker from Melbourne, described the strain placed on staff in the sector this way:

Also, they took the ENs—

enrolled nurses—

out of our sector. So then the carers had to do the role of an EN, doing medications. When a carer is doing medications, it takes that carer off the floor.

She went on to say:

Therefore, the other person has to do the work of two people, while this person is doing medications. That could take half an hour to an hour, depending on how many residents you've got. In my area, we have 43 residents with only six carers.

It's hard to understand why anyone—aged-care providers, government, workers or residents—would find this to be an acceptable norm within the system.

While workers are being stretched as thin as humanly possible, they're simultaneously being subjected to insecure working arrangements within the sector. Through the job security committee, we heard so many witnesses express their anxieties about their work and cost-of-living pressures. Sheree Clarke, an aged-care nurse from Queensland, shared this:

For me, personally, that insecure work has led to insecure housing. Because I've only got a 16-hour contract, I can't sign a lease. My anxiety levels wouldn't allow me to go to a higher rent, so I found myself living in a caravan park.

We've seen this shoddy business model spread like wildfire across the sector, where aged-care workers are hired as part-time contractors with few if any guaranteed hours. That means their employer can move their shifts and their hours up and down at a whim, including cutting shifts for workers if they speak out on any issues, including quality of care. Keeping everybody desperate for hours puts people on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and you never get real time off. It means they are essentially casuals, only they don't get the 25 per cent loading.

As the HSU national secretary, Lloyd Williams, put it:

… the situation we have is that … employers offer employees low part-time hours and then expect workers to be on demand for additional hours. If you are subject to low part-time hours, you are desperate, then, for additional hours. I don't think the relationship becomes one of a voluntary nature, because of the financial circumstances that that worker is placed in.

When we thought work conditions in the sector had hit rock bottom, up stepped the gig economy to drive standards down even further—gig platforms like Mable which pay their contractors below award wages, wages that would be illegal to pay to an employee. Mable has a business model built on paying workers below minimum wage while not providing employee benefits like leave or super or workers compensation. The previous government allowed for this to occur and then actually endorsed it. Instead of addressing the systemic issues in the sector or working through implementing the recommendations of the royal commission, they awarded Mable $7.2 million to provide surge staff in aged-care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic—which turned out to be such a disaster that it became a case study of the royal commission.

Even employer groups have spoken out about the dangers of having platforms like Mable infiltrate the aged-care space. Charles Cameron, from the Recruitment, Consulting and Staffing Association, told the job security inquiry:

We're very concerned that vulnerable clients, or representatives of disabled or elderly clients, will not have the time to properly analyse or, indeed, understand that, when you source an individual through these platforms as an independent contractor, you're not engaging somebody even on a labour hire basis; you're simply being matched and introduced to them. We think that presents a large number of problems …

I think it's fair to say that the community expects a high level of care for older Australians. The rise of Mable and other platforms is doing the exact opposite and sending care standards through the floor.

I want to commend the Health Services Union for being at the forefront of the fight against gig workers and the gig economy being exploited. The Health Services Union national president, Gerard Hayes, said of the rise of the gig economy: 'It is fraught with danger.' He has been proven right by the royal commission.

The royal commission rightly said that direct employment, not gig work, should be the workforce model in the sector. As Lauren Hutchins, from the Health Services Union, has said:

If you look at some of these platforms, they are a combination of Tinder and Uber. You put your profile out there and people … then make a decision based on the information that is provided. What you don't see is that those workers themselves often don't have access to workers compensation. They certainly don't have access to any form of leave. The arrangements in terms of their pay are often pretty dodgy …

This is why the workplace reforms the government will introduce later this year are so important. We cannot leave the welfare of our most vulnerable Australians in aged care or on the NDIS to the mercy of gig platforms.

The introduction of this bill affirms and reinforces the Albanese Labor government's commitment to improving the standard of aged care in our country. This is about supporting aged-care workers in secure, well-paid and fair work to improve the standard of care for older Australians—something that was absolutely not a priority of those opposite. This bill is another step in restoring trust in the aged-care system, and I commend the government and the minister for their action in this space.