David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, I have questions about wait times and aged-care assessments, and I apologise to those sitting behind you who are probably sick of these questions! Through the inquiry and estimates, I found that the ACT has the longest wait times for an aged-care assessment in the country. In some cases, people have been left waiting for re-assessment for up to a year. In cases where they've been reassessed as needing a level 4 package, then they've been left waiting for around two years for the support that they need. I've heard from emergency doctors who tell me that Canberra Hospital can often find itself choked with the senior Canberrans who would not need to be there if they had support at home.

To put a bit of colour around this, here is some feedback I received from a person at the ACT Seniors and Better Ageing Expo, and I will quote it for the Senate: 'There needs to be an urgency option available for home-care assessments, especially when cancer is involved. Both my parents died of cancer in late 2022. They were self-funded retirees and very independent, but when my father passed suddenly, nine weeks after his diagnosis, my mum declined rapidly. Her cancer was already advanced. I became her full-time, live-in carer. We needed urgent assistance, but I was unable to get help, and Mum died before we were able to have an assessment. It's extremely distressing, and I would like to see this rectified for people who might not have family to assist them. I would hope that more funds could be used for additional assessment staff to reduce wait times and allow for urgent appointments.'

Minister, as you would have seen at estimates, the department has advised that the Commonwealth gives money to the ACT government, and they haven't been employing enough staff to keep up with demand. But the ACT government and the minister have said that they're not receiving enough funding. So I'm not sure who is correct, but I was interested to ask whether enough funding has been allocated to employ the correct number of assessors for senior Canberrans to receive timely assessments. If that is the case, how many assessors does the government estimate the ACT government needs and how many does it have?