Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill now be read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

AGED CARE AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (ROYAL COMMISSION RESPONSE) BILL 2022

SECOND READING SPEECH

I am pleased to introduce the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill 2022. This Bill takes important steps towards implementing recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

It demonstrates this Government's strong commitment to delivering security, dignity, quality and humanity for every older Australian.

Most of the measures in this Bill were considered by the 46th Parliament. However, the first version of the Royal Commission Response Bill was not agreed ahead of the election being called.

I am introducing this revised Bill today, in the first sitting week of the 47th Parliament, to prevent any further delay of the important funding, quality and safety reforms that will be enabled by this Bill.

This Government has carefully considered the Bill introduced by the previous Government.

We have made some improvements and additions and removed the amendments that related to worker screening.

Instead, this Government will develop a national worker registration scheme that includes ongoing training and English proficiency requirements, and criminal history screening to further professionalise the aged care workforce.

Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) model

At the core of this Bill is a new funding model for our aged care sector.

It has been in development since 2017 in deep consultation with the sector, with providers, with people receiving care and their advocates. It was a key finding of the Royal Commission and it has been widely expected to commence on October first this year.

It will result in a ten per cent uplift in funding for a sector badly in need of support.

This measure was proposed in legislation at the end of the previous Parliament, was subject to a senate inquiry process, debate and passage in this place and debate and amendment in the other place.

It, along with much of this Bill, lapsed at the end of the 46th Parliament.

The result has been a sector riddled with neglect, confusion and underfunding further racked with uncertainty that this new model of funding will be commencing on time.

I can assure all of those in aged care that it will.

Schedule one of this Bill relates to the new Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) model for calculating aged care subsidies that was endorsed by the Royal Commission.

This schedule is critical to support structural reform of funding for residential aged care.

The Bill makes clear that AN-ACC will replace the existing Aged Care Funding Instrument on 1 October this year.

Since April 2021, residential aged care recipients have received shadow assessments under the AN-ACC model, and this Bill will allow those classifications to be linked to the subsidy calculation for residential aged care providers.

It is unfortunate that this Bill and new funding model was unable to be progressed through to completion by the former Government in the previous Parliament.

The certainty and funding that the sector so badly needs drives our desire to see the earliest possible consideration of this Bill.

Star Ratings

Schedule 2 of the Bill, is a new measure that will facilitate the publication of Star Ratings for all residential aged care services on My Aged Care by the end of 2022.

A transparent and standardised Star Rating system for residential aged care services will ensure older Australians, their families and carers are assisted to make informed decisions about aged care.

Star Ratings will support older Australians to compare services and make informed choices based on an overall rating and four sub-categories:

Star Ratings will empower older Australians and their representatives with information to make choices about their aged care. They will incentivise providers to make continuous quality improvements, and support Government to provide transparent information about the quality of the aged care system.

Code of Conduct and banning orders

Schedule 3 introduces a Code of Conduct for the aged care sector, as recommended by the Royal Commission.

The Code of Conduct - the first stage of the Government's worker registration plan - will set standards of behaviour for aged care workers, approved providers and governing persons of approved providers to ensure they are delivering aged care in a way that is safe, competent and respectful.

It will also empower the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to monitor compliance with the Code, investigate complaints into alleged breaches and take appropriate enforcement action in response.

This includes the ability to issue banning orders to prevent workers from working in the aged care sector for the most egregious breaches. This will ensure that older Australians provided with care can have confidence in the workforce and be safeguarded by regulatory arrangements.

Extension of incident management and reporting

Schedule 4 of this Bill extends the Serious Incident Response Scheme to home care and flexible care delivered in a home or community care setting from 1 December 2022, giving effect to Recommendation 100 of the Royal Commission.

This extension seeks to level the protections for aged care recipients in all settings and create a consistent mechanism of oversight in both the residential and home care sectors.

These new requirements will help to build provider capacity to record and respond to incidents; identify, manage and resolve risks; and formalise ways of ensuring continuous improvement in care practices that will reduce the number of preventable incidents in the future.

The expansion will ensure that approved providers of home care and flexible care provided in a home or community setting report relevant incidents to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner.

This will enable Government oversight and ensure that the risk of abuse and neglect towards vulnerable older Australians receiving aged-care services is minimised.

Governance of approved providers

Schedule 5 of this Bill strengthens the governance of approved providers.

From 1 December 2022, the Bill will introduce a number of new governance responsibilities for approved providers and their governing bodies.

New reporting requirements, being introduced through these amendments, will assist older Australians and their families to understand the operations of providers.

The amendments will require approved providers to notify the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission of changes to key personnel.

The amendments will also replace the current disqualified individual arrangements with a broader suitability test.

These governance arrangements will improve the transparency and accountability of providers and the quality care delivered to aged care recipients. These measures align with Recommendations 88 to 90 of the Royal Commission.

Information Sharing

Where possible, the Government is aligning the regulation of providers across the broader care and support sector comprising aged care, disability support and veterans' care.

Regulatory harmonisation will improve the consistency of quality and safety protections across the care and support sector while accounting for the needs of different people, support types and settings.

It will also encourage greater cross-sector service provision and supply by reducing duplicative and inconsistent obligations.

As a first step in regulatory alignment, Schedule 6 facilitates increased information sharing by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the Department of Health and Aged Care and the Department of Veterans' Affairs with other Commonwealth bodies.

These amendments are intended to enable Commonwealth bodies with powers and functions related to aged care, veterans' care and disability support to share information regarding providers and workers operating across the care and support sector who might be putting those receiving care, support or treatment at risk.

The amendments seek to address aspects of the existing legislation that can make it difficult to share information in the prompt and efficient way needed to respond effectively to such risks.

Reciprocal sharing of information about provider and worker conduct in the NDIS has been enabled by provisions introduced by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for At Risk Participants) Act 2021.

Use of refundable deposits and accommodation bonds

The Government is improving the financial oversight and prudential regulation of the aged care sector to improve the financial viability of residential providers and support the continuity of services for older Australians.

As part of this, Schedule 7 of the Bill will increase Government oversight of how refundable accommodation deposits and bonds paid by older Australians are used by the sector and other companies until they have been refunded - and also strengthen the offence for their misuse.

This will reduce the risk of older Australians not being repaid their accommodation funds when due.

Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority

Schedule 8 of the Bill expands the functions of a renamed Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority to also include the provision of advice on healthcare and aged-care pricing and costing.

New governance arrangements will reflect the enhanced responsibilities and integrated functions of the pricing authority by enabling appointment of an Aged Care Deputy Chair.

This new, independent aged-care pricing and costing advice function will support transparent and evidence-based assessment of the costs involved in delivering aged care. This will support sustainability of aged care over the long term.

Restrictive Practices

Schedule 9 of the Bill will enable the implementation of an interim solution with respect to the requirement to obtain informed consent for the use of restrictive practices. These amendments are intended to address unforeseen practical limitations resulting from the interactions between Commonwealth and State and Territory consent laws.

The interim measure will allow a person other than the care recipient to provide consent to the use of restrictive practices where the care recipient does not have capacity to do so, and where State and Territory laws would not otherwise allow that consent to be provided.

Schedule 9 to the Bill also provides a limited immunity from civil or criminal liability that may arise in relation to the use of a restrictive practice where someone follows all of the requirements under Commonwealth law in relation to the use of a restrictive practice. This provision does not provide a broad immunity to negligence in respect of the use of a restrictive practice.

Conclusion

Aged care is an urgent priority for this Government.

I commend this Bill.

Debate adjourned.