Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services (Senator Colbeck) to questions asked by Senator Keneally and Senator Gallagher earlier today.

We know that the aged-care sector is in crisis. It's a word that we can't get the minister to say. In fact, in question time today he said it was in 'severe stress'. It's worse than 'severe stress'; it is in crisis, and I despair of the minister and his ability to deal with the ongoing issues. He has completely mismanaged it and shown his incompetence by his actions in regard to the crisis that the aged-care sector is facing. In fact, he has completely stuffed it, to be honest.

There are four key areas that concern this side of the chamber. Obviously, there are boosters, the lack of PPE and people being sent the wrong PPE when they've asked for it. And there are the RATs—we know they couldn't give a rats, so that is not news to anybody—and the surge workforce. We have aged-care workers who are so overworked and underpaid that, as we heard earlier today in question time, they're working 80 hours a week—a lot of them are working 80 hours a week. That's not sustainable.

Although I haven't worked in aged care, I know from my friends who do actually work in it that this industry is a very physical industry. It's also emotionally challenging for the workforce. They're not just dealing with people who might pop along to a surgery and who have a little sniffle. They have to lift people, they have to turn people and they have to deal with people who have mental health issues—dementia and all sorts of issues. Some of those people have been, basically, locked up for weeks and weeks on end and not been able to see their families. People have had to die without their families present. And what do we have? We've had lip service from a government that really, as I said—humour aside—could not give a rats. They could not give a rats.

These workers deserve our respect. And what else they deserve is decent pay for what they do. A lot of them are only earning $22 an hour. You can earn more being a gardener or a cleaner in someone's home. It's atrocious that we are treating people who are looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our society in this way. They're underpaid. They're being treated like rubbish by this government, with no care whatsoever. Then we wonder—well, we don't on this side; we know why—why it's hard to retain workers in the industry, as I said, even before you consider the pressures brought about by the industry.

Our aged-care workers—I want to say this upfront—have been doing amazing work under such difficult conditions, and they are the heroes of this pandemic. The villain is Minister Colbeck, who decided that it was better to go to three days at the cricket than to deal with the aged-care crisis or attend a Senate committee inquiry into COVID. This is despite the fact that the committee had said to him, 'We will meet at a day and time of your convenience.' You know what? They only wanted two hours and 45 minutes of his time. But no. Minister Colbeck could not give that two hours and 45 minutes. Why? Because Minister Colbeck was at the cricket, enjoying hospitality. Seriously, they could have found him a room over there. I know what the cricket ground is like. I live in Hobart. I've been over there. They could have found him a nice, quiet little room where he could have set things up and done it. But he didn't want to, and that's because he's embarrassed, as he should be. He should be hanging his head in shame about the treatment of the aged-care sector all through COVID. I'll tell you: I'm surprised he even turns up, because truly it would take more front than Myer to turn up and say, 'The sector is under severe stress.' It's worse than severe stress; it's in crisis. (Time expired)

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These questions go to aged care, and I think it's quite fair for me to say that Labor's record on this issue of aged care is patchy at best. Their record on health overall is, in fact, very poor. We only need to look back at their history when they were in government to see that. So far be it from them to come into this place and lecture this government, which has done a remarkable job, in collaboration with the states, over the last two years to weather and deal with the issues of health related to the pandemic. Of course, I could go on about the way the economy is tracking in Australia right now compared to the rest of the world. But on health we are arguably in the most enviable position of anywhere on the planet.

A lot of senior Australians were impacted by the failures of Labor to continue support for the PBS, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. In government, we have listed a record number of drugs on the PBS, supporting all Australians, particularly older Australians. Older Australians have a greater need for drugs that are listed on the PBS. It's our management of the economy—keeping the economy strong, with a budget that's able to support the listing of these medicines on there—that has meant that older Australians in particular have been very well supported. Since 2013, the coalition has approved nearly 3,000 new or amended listings on the PBS. This represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month, or one each day—an overall investment of $14 billion by the government.

We do acknowledge that there are issues in the aged-care sector. That's why, right now, we have provided 80,000 shifts of surge workforce around Australia. We have not spared any expense to support the sector. That's why we have recognised the sector with special $800 bonus payments. I just want to pay tribute to those who are working in the aged-care sector. I have been surrounded by family who have worked in this space. My grandmother, who is now retired, is one of the most special people in my life and she worked in the aged-care sector for pretty much her entire career. My sister works in the aged-care sector. She's a registered nurse in a wonderful facility in the south of Perth. I know that aged-care workers are some of the most dedicated people. They do the job because they love the job. We acknowledge that they aren't the highest paid occupations. They turn up every day because they care about their jobs, they care about the people that they are serving and they really do make a difference. I know they are rewarded by the fact that they are doing wonderful, wonderful work. But we recognise that they have been challenged over this period. The government recognises that and, more importantly, is helping those employers and service providers to retain staff. Having gone through the fatigue of dealing with particularly the pandemic, it's important that they are able to retain as many staff members as they can. This $800 bonus, spread across a couple of payments, is aimed at really helping them to address that.

It's interesting that there were questions that went to wages. The Labor Party, at least here in the Senate, probably need to check their notes on what has been said in the other place, because Mr Albanese actually said that he supports the process of going through the Fair Work Commission. That's the commission Labor set up. They set up some of that framework that we now have. It's an independent process. Anthony Albanese, the Leader of the Opposition, has not provided any amount that he will go to if he becomes the leader of the government. He hasn't said what it would cost. He hasn't said what impact he would make. Why is that? It's because he is all about politics. He's just about presenting a political narrative rather than actually addressing the issue. If he named a price, he would have to cost it. He doesn't want to do that ahead of an election because his costings are always unfunded— (Time expired)

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The aged-care sector is in crisis. It is. That is clear for everyone to see. It's clear when you talk to aged-care workers, as I have, and as I know all my colleagues have. But, even if you haven't been bothered to go talk to the workforce and understand what's happening on the ground in their workplaces at the moment, a quick scan of the news headlines will show you the state the sector's in. The number of people dying will show you that the sector is in crisis. There are reports of workers under stress and under strain because of the choices they are being forced to make every single day, when they go into their workplaces, about which of the residents in their care who need their urgent attention they tend to. These reports are not hard to find. In fact, you've heard about them today in question time. You can look at the rollout of boosters and see the significant and critical shortages of jabs in arms to keep people safe. It is not hard to see that this is a sector in crisis. It is not hard.

Indeed, if you are willing to spend time playing word games to prove that it is not in crisis, may I suggest you spend that time talking to a nurse or talking to a worker in aged care. They are at breaking point. They go into work every day trying to care for the residents who have served our country, who have been part of our community and who deserve to spend this time in their lives living in dignity. These workers who want to provide that to those in their care do not have the support from the minister and the government they need to do their jobs. These are jobs which they are paid a pittance for—$22 an hour. And then the government won't even stand up and make a submission on their behalf. We have a government who doesn't care and a minister who goes to the cricket and then comes in here and argues and plays word games around whether or not the sector is in crisis.

This sector is in crisis. People are dying. Workers are struggling. This is a crisis, and it deserves the full attention of the minister. It deserves a minister who shows up to work, who shows up to the committee which is there to hold him accountable and who shows up to this parliament and doesn't go into the ridiculous politics and word games which distract people and run down the clock on his answers in question time. These workers deserve so much more from this government. They deserve more than thanks. They deserve to be paid properly for the work that they do. They deserve to be supported by a broader workforce amongst them—by shifts being filled. They deserve to be supported by having the boosters that will protect them when they go into their workplace each day. They shouldn't have to make the kinds of choices that they have to make every single day. They shouldn't have to make choices about which resident in pain or in distress or in need to go to, but they have to make these choices because there aren't enough staff in this workforce and there isn't enough support from the government.

Denying that this sector is in crisis is an absurd thing to come in here and do. This sector has been struggling since long before this pandemic. The royal commission report was entitled Neglect. That was before the pandemic. You overlay these issues on top of a sector which was struggling that much, and then you take a minister and a government more interested in the politics than in supporting the workers caring for our elderly, caring for our aged, and making devastating choices every single day. Those workers deserve so much better, as does every single Australian in aged care.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's some truth there at the end of Senator Smith's contribution that I'd like to agree with. There is no doubt that the aged-care sector has been under a lot of stress since before the pandemic. There is no doubt that there needs to be more funding for aged care in this country, and, of course, a pandemic, which no-one could have predicted the timing of, was always going to put much stress on that system.

This government, though, has responded to the long years of neglect Senator Smith mentioned. The years of neglect go back through previous governments on both sides of politics, but it was this government that commissioned a royal commission to look at the state of the aged-care sector, warts and all, and it is this government that is responding to that commission with record amounts of additional funding over the years to come. Of course, not every problem or issue can be solved overnight. The problems have emerged over many decades and therefore cannot be solved in a year or two.

That extra funding will have an impact over time, and I'll come to that later. But before I get to that detail I want to acknowledge the commitment, the hard work and the stress that aged-care workers must have gone through over the past two years. It was already a strained and stressful environment for workers in that sector, but to have the extra obligations of being COVID-safe and the extra staff pressures of isolation rules and COVID cases has of course put those people who are on the front lines under great strain. I pay tribute to the work they have done. I believe that, in tough times, that sector as a whole has done the best it could to handle this once-in-a-century pandemic.

There does need to be more funding to improve aged-care centres in this country. There does need to be more money available to attract staff, potentially increasing wages over time to do that, to keep up with the offers that exist now. The NDIS is another care sector that's been well-funded by this government and that is competing for these types of staff in aged-care centres. We have to respond by offering attractive employment options to those who love the aged-care sector and want to continue to work in it.

That's why the government is putting forward $18 billion in funding in response to the royal commission. That is going to make a difference over time. It's not going to happen overnight. We have, through the pandemic, put an additional $600 million into bonuses for staff in the sector, to provide an immediate top-up. But what we need to do over the longer term is to grow incrementally the funding that exists in the aged-care pool such that providers, both public and private, can offer a reasonable and competitive wage to those who work in the sector.

There have been suggestions from the other side in this debate that somehow the government or Canberra bureaucrats here should impose these wages, that they should just unilaterally increase wages across the sector. That's not how our industrial relations system works, nor should it be how it works, because almost invariably we'll get it wrong here in Canberra. We'll stuff it up. If we try to centrally plan every aged-care sector in the country there'll be enormous perverse outcomes. We'll have wage rates inapplicable to some types of work or some centres in regional areas and there'll be devastation across the land. What we need to do is to respect the industrial relations framework we have through the Fair Work Commission and have viable, well-funded aged-care centres that can respond to that process.

We heard during question time that the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Albanese, knows how the system works. That's what he said in response to it—that we need to let the Fair Work Commission work. But the opposition didn't want to hear. They tried to silence their own leader, the Leader of the Opposition, in question time. Every time the minister tried to say, 'This is what Mr Albanese, the Leader of the Opposition, thinks about how the system thinks, this is what he believes,' the Labor Party would get up and say, 'A point of order: they are quoting our leader. He doesn't know anything. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Why are you quoting Mr Albanese?' They tried to shut it down. I do agree with Mr Albanese's point that we need to have a flexible approach to this industry that provides good funding but allows individual aged-care centres to work with their workforces, customers and aged members of the Australian community to get the best outcomes they can during this pandemic and beyond.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister Colbeck told us today, in this chamber, that he will hold others to account. He will hold to account the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, he will hold to account aged-care providers and he will hold to account the opposition. But what he didn't do, what he refused to do, was to acknowledge his responsibilities and to acknowledge the failures—the government's lack of care and support over the pandemic.

The pandemic is not a surprise. We've been at this since early 2019, yet we are seeing the crisis continue—because, yes, aged care is in crisis. This government is incapable of planning. It has been incapable, since 2019, of seeing what devastation can occur with vulnerable people. It is incapable of protecting our vulnerable people. Where were the vaccines to minimise the impact? Where was the PPE to stop the spread? Where was the plan to protect our vulnerable older people?

The aged-care sector is in crisis, and the most crucial issue over time has been that of the workforce, of having a sufficient number of trained people to look after our vulnerable older people. The current crisis and chronic shortages are as a result of almost nine long years of neglect. This government, in 2013, killed off a workforce compact that had been negotiated by Labor to improve the wages of aged-care staff. The work done by Labor while in government included a revamp of aged care. There were significant changes to protect older people, provide choices for older people and improve the wages of staff doing vitally important work in the aged-care sector. When this government came in, in 2013, it scrapped some of the most critical aspects of that reform, and we are seeing the result of that right now.

There are chronic staff shortages. We have older people in residential aged-care facilities right now living in unbearable conditions. Why? Because the pandemic and staff shortages make situations where we have staff looking after up to 60 people. We heard earlier: where do they go? Someone has fallen over, somebody has soiled, somebody needs to be fed or somebody is having a medical situation. How do they appropriate their time when they're looking after 60 people at a time? It is an unconscionable situation. It is a situation that could have been planned for. It is a situation that, as Australians, we should all be embarrassed about.

The standard of care for residents has plunged to alarming new lows, partly because there are staff shortages and partly because we are not looking appropriately at the running of the aged-care sector. More than 500 people in aged care have died during COVID. This is a completely unacceptable situation, and all we have is Minister Colbeck standing in front of us today and not taking any responsibility, defending the fact that he spent three days at the cricket and defending the fact that he hasn't met with various people to deal with this crisis—he has consistently not taken responsibility. The aged-care minister says that the sector is not in crisis, but just about everyone living in it, working in it or looking at it says that it is.

People deserve better; our older people deserve better. When the AMA advised in September 2021 that there was trouble coming, that there were going to be greater challenges with the new variant—and omicron particularly came to bear on that—the government did nothing. They didn't plan and they didn't think about how they were going to protect vulnerable people in this country. They just went about their business, went to the cricket and paid no attention. This situation is a disgrace and we should all be ashamed of the situation we find ourselves in.

Question agreed to.