Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Aged Care, Senator Gallagher. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found that unacceptable staffing levels in aged-care homes had created horrific environments of substandard care. The final report recommended that registered nurses be required on site in residential aged-care homes 24 hours a day seven days a week. It also recommended the introduction of minimum care time from registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers. Could the minister update the Senate on the Albanese government's progress in implementing these recommendations?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Payman for that question on the important issue of aged care across the community. The final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety told a shocking story of neglect, inaction and a lack of ambition to plan for growing demand in the aged-care sector. It called for urgent action to help a sector that was in crisis. The Labor government recognised that aged-care workers had to be at the foundation of our reform. Aged-care workers are the heart of the system caring for vulnerable older Australians, and that's why the very first piece of legislation introduced by the Albanese government was a bill to require 24/7 nursing, to make sure aged-care residents could get the clinical care they required around the clock.

This positive step forward was met by ridicule and criticism from those opposite, who ran an irresponsible year-long scare campaign that requiring more nurses in aged care would lead to the collapse of the aged-care sector. But 1 July came and went, the sun is still in the sky, and our first set of data for the 24/7 nursing mandate revealed significant improvements. On average, there is a nurse on site 98 per cent of the time, or 23½ hours a day. Eighty-six per cent of all homes that reported data have a nurse 24/7, and the majority of remaining homes are extremely close to meeting the target. Two months on, the data has continued to improve, with 88 per cent of homes now having a registered nurse on site 24/7. The royal commission also recommended mandatory minimum care minutes, which took effect from 1 October. Data collected from when minimum care minutes came into effect show that older Australians are receiving an additional 1.8 million minutes of care every single day under the Albanese government.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Payman, first supplementary?

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister advise how the government is working to ensure the growing aged-care workforce is adequately skilled to deliver high-quality care?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Making sure we have a skilled workforce to deliver the high-quality care is a critical component of the aged-care reforms. The system that we inherited was described under the title Neglect by the royal commission in its first interim report. We are steadily improving the quality of care, and the skills and training, and encouraging more people into the aged-care workforce based on the work that we are doing through the skills programs, through Minister O'Connor, through the leadership of the Prime Minister and the states and territories. We now have 7,869 Australians enrolled in Certificate III in Individual Support to work in aged care or disability care, and another almost 8½ thousand Australians have enrolled in a Diploma of Nursing. There is more work to do, but having a skilled workforce is essential to making sure that we can improve the quality of care for those elderly Australians who rely on residential aged-care services.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Payman, second supplementary?

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister inform the Senate how the government's work to build the aged-care workforce is helping to deliver Labor's promise to lift the standard of aged care in Australia?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Payman. The government's desire is to work with the aged-care sector to deliver on all of these important reforms. I met with a group of ACT aged-care providers in the last couple of weeks to talk about what they're seeing post these changes. They're seeing stability in their staff. They're seeing less turnover. They're seeing more applications for vacancies in the sector and fewer agency contracts, which means more continuity of care for residents in residential aged care, who are seeing and benefiting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ruston!

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't know what Senator Ruston doesn't like about improved aged-care services, but she has been interjecting and complaining about the improvements that we have made, things that they never did. They couldn't find the room, couldn't find the investments, couldn't find the human capital, to actually invest in that system. We're doing it, and you're still complaining about it. Residents are seeing improved care, and that's because of the work that the minister has been doing.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, thank you. Senator Ruston, your constant interjections are disorderly, and I am asking you to discontinue—and Senator Colbeck.