Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

This bill certainly includes, as you say, a number of protections around making complaints, including protections for whistleblowers. The complaints arrangements will also allow for anonymous complaints. In terms of the responsibility for educating individuals about the act in an ongoing way, we would certainly see that as part of our and providers' ongoing responsibilities. We are talking about and have talked this morning about a range of materials that will be provided as well as toolkits, information and national public information campaigns around the bill that would be done as part of these new arrangements. But I think, if you visit an aged-care facility or many public facilities, they will be required to have made available to clients, to residents and to people visiting all of the rights and responsibilities that exist under the aged-care arrangements. That would continue and would clearly have to be refreshed for this new reform. We also fund COTA and other non-government organisations to promote that kind of information. So it's not just government; it is other stakeholders in the aged-care sector which are funded for advocacy and education. But, if senators have some other ideas about how to strengthen those arrangements under this reform, I'm sure the minister would be happy to consider them.