Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. How many older Australians in their 80s and 90s are still waiting for their approved level 4 packages because the Morrison government have left them behind?

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

I don't have the exact number for level 4 with me, but the number of Australians waiting on the national priority list for aged-care home-care packages is just under 100,000 as of the beginning of November. I don't have the breakdown for each level, but that number of people who are waiting for home-care packages has, of course, reduced significantly over the last 12 months or so, since March last year. In March last year, the number of people waiting for a home-care package was about 129,000, and it's now under 100,000—about 98,000 or 99,000. That is because of the significant investment that we have put into the home-care sector over recent years, with $4.6 billion invested into home-care packages since the 2018-19 budget; 23,000 packages at a cost of $1.6 billion over the forward estimates in this year's budget announced just recently; and, of course, 6,105 new home-care packages announced as part of the economic statement that we released in July. So there are almost 30,000 new packages this financial year. When we came to government in 2013, there were only 60,000 home care packages in the system. There will be 185,000 packages in the system by the time we get to the end of this financial year. I'm happy to come back to the chamber with the exact number of people on a level 4 package that are on the national priority list. As I've said, the total number on the national priority list is around 99,000.

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

Senator Polley, a supplementary question?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why is the minister still sending letters to older Australians to advise them that they've been assigned a home-care package even though they passed away 12 months ago?

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

It is very unfortunate that some people receive letters, and I myself have had communication with some of those families that have received a letter offering a home-care package or about a home-care package—in some circumstances it's to inquire whether people intend to take up their allocated home-care package—after a person has passed away. But, unfortunately, the responsibility for notification of deaths goes through state systems, and sometimes it takes some time for those notifications to pass through to the Commonwealth. So this is not, as the opposition might like to try to portray, some sort of blame-shifting exercise.

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

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

Order! Senator Wong! Senator Rennick!

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

It's a fact that sometimes the systems take time to report through to the system. I have asked on a number of occasions—

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

Order, Senator Colbeck! The time for the answer has expired, even though I struggled to hear it. Senator Polley, a final supplementary question?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How many letters has the minister sent to older Australians, advising them they've been assigned a home care package, after they have, sadly, passed away? Can you now promise that no more grieving families will receive these distressing letters?

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

Unfortunately, I am not able to guarantee that no further families will receive such a letter. I have been asked to do that on a number of occasions, but, unfortunately, the flow of data doesn't give me the capacity to do that.

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

Order! Senator Polley, on a point of order?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question I asked initially was: how many letters have you sent out? You haven't even attempted to answer that!

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

Senator Polley, that, quite frankly, was an abuse of a point of order. There is no way the minister could have been more directly relevant to the question. If people don't make an attempt to make a point of order on direct relevance, I am going to clamp down on a simple restating of the question. The minister was being absolutely and utterly directly relevant to the question asked.

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

My condolences to any family member who has lost a loved one. I have to say, I am sorry that people get such letters after their family members have passed away. They have my sincere condolences and apologies. That is not the way we would like to run the system, but, unfortunately, sometimes notifications into My Aged Care take some time, and those letters are sent out. I am happy to come back to the chamber with the number Senator Polley has asked for with respect to those letters, but I can't guarantee that those letters won't go out in the future. (Time expired)