Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians. Minister, how many Australians have died whilst waiting for their home package in the last financial year?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't have the latest figures. I'm happy to take that number on notice for the chamber. Obviously, the figure for the last financial year, which is quite common, is 16,000. This is a legitimate question. It's one of the reasons that the government takes this issue of aged care and the growth in home care packages so seriously. But I don't have those figures at this point in time. I'm happy to take them on notice and come back to the chamber when they're available.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ciccone, a supplementary question?

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday in question time, when asked what advice he'd give a 95-year-old woman who has a terminal illness, has been on a waiting list for a level 4 package and has been told that, under this government, that package would not be available for 22 months, the minister responded by saying that that package is much closer. My question to the minister is: how much closer that 95-year-old woman to receiving the care that she desperately needs?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That process is determined independently of government by the national prioritisation process. I don't have the capacity to intervene in that process. It's a process set up by the government, deliberately, to allow for the assessment of older Australians who require a home care package and to allow for that process to determine whether they are a higher priority in their need, so I have no capacity to make any determination in relation to that. The thing that we're looking to do, in line with the recommendations of the royal commission, is to add additional capacity into the system. That's exactly what we did yesterday: we announced the extra 10,000 places. We've acknowledged there's additional work to be done. We are also proud of our record. We've increased the number of home care packages from 60,000 when we came to government to 150,000 this year. (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ciccone, a final supplementary question?

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the average wait time for a level 4 package at over 22 months, what does the minister believe is a reasonable amount of time for a 95-year-old woman with a terminal illness?

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've said publicly on a number of occasions—and the government says the same thing more broadly—that we want older Australians to be able to get the care that they need as soon as possible. So, that's the process, and that's why we've continued to add additional capacity into the system. Last financial year we increased the capacity of the home care sector by 25 per cent. This year we've put in an additional 15,000 packages. We want Australians to be able to access the care that they need as soon as they possibly can. We won't do what Labor did with pink batts and VET FEE-HELP, where they created a circumstance for shonky providers to come into the market. Doing so would undermine the safety of senior Australians. We're going to do this, as I've said a number of times, with good policy, properly delivered, and in a way that provides the sort of care that older Australians need.