Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Senator Colbeck. In March last year a report from this minister's own aged-care regulator warned that the Jeta Gardens nursing home was not prepared for a COVID-19 outbreak and 'had not minimised infection related risks as it had not effectively planned or prepared for a potential outbreak of COVID-19'. What action did this minister take in response?

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

The government, through the regulator, issued a number of notices to the provider and continued to work with the provider with a number of follow-up visits to ensure the provider did bring its response up to an appropriate level of standard. It took regulatory action in September. It put in a noncompliance notice in October, and on 29 November it put in a notice to remedy.

So the quality and safety commission actually undertook its role, which is to continue to provide oversight to a provider to bring the service back to compliance. And it continues to do that. That is the role the quality and safety commission has. It has that independent legislated responsibility that the Labor Party voted for to provide that level of oversight to a provider and take appropriate compliance action to bring a service back into compliance. Of course the government has provided significant additional resources to the quality and safety commission to ensure they have the capacity to do that. That's what we will continue to do. We will to continue to work to improve the structure of the system and the resources of the system—particularly the quality and safety commission, so that they can provide the relevant and appropriate oversight to the sector to ensure that all providers are in compliance.

I will say this to any provider out there: be prepared for the fact that, even though there is a pandemic on, the quality and safety commission will continue to be focused on its work, as it appropriately should be.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, a supplementary question?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

tor WATT () (): The minister claims that Jeta Gardens was brought back to compliance, but yesterday reports emerged that chronic staff shortages at Jeta Gardens have forced 90-year-old residents to care for each other, that families were lied to about vaccinations and not informed their loved ones had COVID until they were dying and that staff were asked to only change masks 'if you need to' due to mask shortages. How could the minister fail Jeta Gardens residents so badly when he was twice warned their safety was at risk?

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

I too have seen those reports. That's why additional quality regulatory action has been taken against the provider, including a notice to agree, which requires additional capacity to be employed by the facility to ensure that it is providing services to the residents there in accordance with the quality standards. That is the role of the system, that is the role of the quality and safety commissioner, and that's what the commission has done.

I have to say I, like so many others, am extremely disappointed in the noncompliance of this service. They need to take responsibility for their role as an approved provider, and I will ensure that the quality commission does its oversight role. (Time expired)

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, a second supplementary?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With 15 Jeta Gardens residents now tragically dead from COVID-19 after this minister was twice warned their safety was at risk and 182 residents and staff infected with COVID, does the minister still seriously believe the aged-care system is not in crisis?

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

As I've said a number of times this week, the aged-care sector in Australia due to COVID-19, due to a global pandemic, is under severe stress. Nobody has tried to deny that. We have provided every single resource we possibly can. I'm not here to play word bingo with the Labor Party. I'm here to work with the aged-care sector to resolve the issues and to assist them to work their way through the pandemic.

While we work on the pandemic, the Labor Party play politics with the pandemic. That's what they do. They are playing politics with the pandemic. We are actively working on assisting the sector to work its way through the pandemic, providing them with the resources, whether it's surge workforce, whether it's PPE, whether it's rapid antigen tests—all of those things—to support the sector to get through the pandemic.