Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck: This year has been challenging for all Australians, particularly our seniors. Today, as we mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, can the minister outline the steps the Morrison government has taken to tackle elder abuse in Australia?

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

I thank Senator Rennick for his question. Elder abuse is something that all of us need to pay attention to. It is a particular problem in our community and, I think, will require some considerable community attitude change. The Morrison government is committed to ending the abuse of Australian seniors in all its forms. Today, the government launched an awareness campaign to highlight the issue and assist those experiencing physical, emotional and financial abuse to get help. This is one of the many initiatives the government is delivering through the national plan to respond to the abuse of older Australians.

We're also committed to working with the states and territories to consider reforms such as those to enduring-power-of-attorney laws. Our government also funds various support programs, including a free 24-hour phone line—1800ELDERHelp; 1800-353-374—and the Older Persons Advocacy Network, OPAN, to provide free confidential and independent advocacy to support older people, including for matters relating to elder abuse.

We have continued with the reform agenda to protect senior Australians in aged care while we continue through the royal commission running its course. We introduced re-accreditation visits from 1 July 2018. We established the independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1 January last year, bringing together the complaints, accreditation, assessment and monitoring into one agency, as recommended by a number of reviews. We also introduced a suite of critical reforms commencing on 1 July last year: new consumer-facing standards, a new charter of aged-care rights and a new National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program.

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

Senator Rennick, a supplementary question.

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline what measures the government has taken to ensure our senior Australians in aged care are being supported and kept safe during the COVID-19 pandemic?

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

The government has been extremely active to ensure that senior Australians not only are safe but have access to the services that they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has continued to do all they can to meet the physical, mental health, social and emotional needs of aged-care consumers. The commission continues to undertake its critical work, including conducting site visits while ensuring that—particularly importantly—infection control requirements are met with inspectors entering aged-care facilities. While it's important to keep older Australians safe from COVID-19, it's also important to ensure that senior Australians in aged-care facilities continue to have visitors for their overall wellbeing. In that context, the code for visiting residential aged-care facilities has been a very, very important initiative undertaken by the government in conjunction with the sector.

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

Order, Senator Colbeck! Senator Rennick, a final supplementary question?

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline what the government is doing to protect older Australians in residential facilities against abuse?

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

Again, I thank Senator Rennick for the question. Any mistreatment or assault of senior Australians or an aged-care recipient is unacceptable, and the government takes all of those instances extremely seriously. Yesterday, on behalf of the government, I announced a further $23 million investment in the Serious Incident Response Scheme, which was a recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission report, to protect vulnerable Australians and senior Australians in aged care from abuse and neglect. It's an important measure to increase transparency to keep our loved ones safe. Residential aged-care providers will be required to manage all incidents—including, importantly, resident-on-resident—with a focus on safety, wellbeing and prevention. There is still much more work to do, and the safety and wellbeing of all senior Australians continue to be one of the key priorities of the Morrison government.