Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT) are teams of professionals that are based in hospitals across the country and are responsible for assessing which older Australians should receive government-funded care,

  (ii) the Morrison Government has announced it wants to privatise the ACAT workforce from April 2021, when a tender will be put out for organisations to deliver this vital assessment,

  (iii) the New South Wales (NSW) Liberal Minister for Health and Medical Research, Mr Brad Hazzard, has said that the Morrison Government's decision to privatise these services lacks "logic" and that "NSW has major concerns",

  (iv) no consultation was undertaken by the Morrison Government to inform its NSW Liberal colleagues of the decision to privatise aged care assessment services, and

  (v) there has also been criticism about the Morrison Government wanting to privatise assessment services by highly regarded experts across the aged care sector;

(b) supports the retention of ACATs as a publicly, independently provided service;

(c) opposes the privatisation of the ACAT workforce; and

(d) condemns the Morrison Government for its continued piecemeal approach to aged care policy.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement:

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

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government has not made a decision to privatise aged-care assessments. It's disappointing that claims to that effect are misleading the community and the parliament. The government made a commitment in the 2018-19 budget to streamline the assessment process of aged care in line with the 2017 Tune review recommendation that the government integrate regional assessment services with aged-care assessment teams. The royal commission, in the interim report, stated:

The Government has announced that it will implement this recommendation and will integrate the two assessment workforces from 2020. The Royal Commission considers that this integration needs to be progressed urgently.

The government rejects the false claims by Labor about consultation. In fact, there have been several rounds of consultation with states following the Tune review recommendation. The government remains committed to creating a better experience for senior Australians entering the aged-care sector, and our position remains unchanged. We are committed to ensuring that Australians seeking to enter aged care receive the timely, consistent and high-quality needs assessment that they deserve.

Question agreed to.