Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to our voting position on provision 88, I'm happy with the bulk of this particular amendment, but the complaints process for participants is already deeply frustrating. On behalf of Senator Penny Allman-Payne, who has carriage of this matter for us and who participated so capably in and ran those hearings, we heard from many older constituents that they feel they can't rely on the government regulator to protect them from dodgy aged-care providers. So we have concerns about permitting the commission to delegate their powers to consultants. Consultants are already deeply enmeshed in the sector, and participants have told us time and time again that they don't feel like they're being listened to in the complaints process. The idea of complaints being resolved by a consultant with possible ties to providers would make that worse, not better. The government needs to properly resource the regulator to hire the staff that it needs, not outsource the work to consultants. It's a very easy fix, and we urge the government to do exactly that.