Address to Parliament by Libby Coker MP on 26th September 2022:
I move:
That this House:
(1) notes the Government's commitment to fix the mess the former Government made of aged care and that this is a priority for the Government;
(2) acknowledges the Government's support for a pay rise for Australia's aged care workers as recommended by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety; and
(3) recommits to delivering a better standard of care for Australians in aged care.
The Albanese government has made an important commitment to all Australians: we will take better care of your loved ones in aged care, and to do this we will also better support the workers who are crucial to their care. We are now delivering on those promises. After nine years of neglect, reform in aged care has finally begun.
The Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill implements several urgent reforms that were key recommendations of the royal commission into aged care: care, dignity and respect. We know that funding cuts, inadequate staff-to-patient ratios, low wages and a casualised workforce have all led to an aged-care system buckling under intense pressure. This was happening before the pandemic but became a full-blown crisis during the pandemic. The former government's neglect and failure to prepare and plan contributed to residents being locked down, isolated and disorientated. Who could forget TV footage of an aged-care resident with dementia who was regularly tied to his chair with a lap belt, sometimes for a total of 14 hours a day, heavily sedated with psychotic drugs? Our fathers, mothers, grandparents, aunties and uncles deserve better in their aged care. Such stories are appalling and have rightly shocked the community.
Severely neglected, underfunded and poorly resourced, the aged-care sector's reputation has dropped to an all-time low. Over recent years I've hosted forums about aged care. Sad, tragic stories were commonplace. Tears flowed as family members, care workers and aged-care residents told their stories. Aged-care workers do some of the most important and compassionate work in our communities, and yet many get paid $21 an hour, less than someone who stacks shelves at a supermarket. This must change if we are to retain and attract skilled aged-care workers in the sector.
I met earlier this year with nurses from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, who were incensed about what has happened in aged care. They told me harrowing stories that illustrate the crisis. They spoke of being overworked and overstretched and understaffed. They spoke of the devastation of not being able to provide the quality of care that they want to give to the elderly. But it isn't all bad. I believe that aged-care workers and providers are genuinely trying their best to give high-quality care to residents, and our government will support them. But it shouldn't be a game of chance. That's why, as part of a package of wider reform, this bill implements the government's most urgent election commitments.
From July next year, the bill will introduce a responsibility for approved providers of residential care and of specified kinds of flexible care to have a registered nurse on site, on duty, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is a fundamental change that will save thousands of stressful, expensive and ultimately unnecessary trips to hospital emergency departments. Importantly, it will ensure older Australians living in residential aged care have access to the nursing care they deserve.
The bill also delivers on the government's commitment to cap the amount that can be charged for admin and management. The royal commission heard that up to 50 per cent of some home-care packages were being eaten up in fees. That's money that should be spent on care. The government is also committed to improving integrity and accountability in aged care and providing greater transparency on what and where aged-care providers spend Commonwealth funding. The bill requires the secretary of the department to make information on residential aged-care services and provider expenditure publicly available. That includes information about labour, care, food, nutrition, cleaning, administration, maintenance and profit or loss.
Labor is committed to moving quickly to reform aged care. This bill, coming early in the life of the Albanese government, gives faith to that commitment. Older Australians have worked hard all their lives contributing to their community and to our nation. They deserve the best. They deserve to be supported in their frailer years with dignity and humanity. This bill is about respect for older Australians. It ushers in a new standard of respect for those in aged care and for the workers who care for them.
The SPEAKER: Is the motion seconded?
Ms Byrnes: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
