Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to speak on the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner's Report for the period 1 January to 30 June 2016, including thefinal report of the Aged Care Commissioner for the period 1 July to 31 December 2015.

The Aged Care Complaints Commissioner's annual report details work that Rae Lamb has been doing in her first six months as the new Aged Care Complaints Commissioner. It is a good report, full of valuable information and data-specific to the aged care sector. This is the first time that a report about aged care complaints has been made available.

In the six months since the new commissioner was appointed she has been inundated with complaints. In fact, the number of complaints has increased by 11 per cent. Over 5,000 people contacted the commissioner's office with concerns between 1 January this year and June. More than 2,000 of these were formal complaints, mostly from concerned family and friends of people living in residential care.

Some people have attributed the increase in complaints to the fact that there has never before been an avenue specifically for aged-care-related complaints. But I am sure that I would not be alone in suggesting that the increase in complaints really stems from the Turnbull government's disinterest and neglect of the ageing and the aged care portfolio.

We have sought from this government on numerous occasions to have released the modelling that they made their judgement on when they cut over $1.2 billion of ACFI funding out of the aged care sector. It has been demonstrated over the last three years that this government has not had the passion, the vision or the drive to ensure that they have oversight of this extremely important sector—the sector that is caring for older Australians and the sector that is responsible for caring for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

So the fact that we now have a complaints commissioner is a good thing. We will continue to watch with great interest, to see whether or not the increase in complaints continues. But I do at least acknowledge the fact that this is a step in the right direction.

But it does concern me that the minister responsible, Minister Sussan Ley, has said that the overall increase in complaints remained low. I think that is a bit of a joke—maybe she was trying to make light of it. But it does not matter how you look at this and how much you want to try to deny it: there has been an increase in complaints.

I am not surprised, really, considering that last weekend, when the minister, Senator Siewert and I attended the LASA Congress 2016, which was held on the Gold Coast, we heard the minister speak and give her address, which said nothing—as usual. But when we participated in a panel discussion in relation to this sector the minister did say that she wanted to be honest with the sector about the cuts. Unfortunately, she did not call them 'cuts'; she sees the ACFI funding cuts as a 'saving'.

But the sector knows, as we know, that a cut is a cut is a cut. So if she really does want to be honest, transparent and open with the sector then she should release the modelling which her government used. She has responsibility around the cabinet table as the minister to release that modelling. All other modelling that has been done by peak bodies has indicated that they believe the outcome will be far worse than the $1.2 billion. Those people who are going to be most affected are those who have multiple conditions and high and complex needs. These are the most vulnerable people in our community.

What I am asking the minister to do is what she said she was going to do—be open, be honest and release that modelling for us. We know that the interest shown by the minister in this sector has been very little. She much prefers to re-announce sporting events so that she can have her photo opportunities again and again. If she just paid 10 per cent more interest in aged care then we would be happy to acknowledge that. But we know that her interest lies in sport, photo opportunities and not doing the job that she has responsibility for.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.