Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence, I would like to begin by acknowledging Merewether Public School, who are joining us in the gallery today. They had a lot of very sensible questions that they put to me earlier on, and it is a delight to have them here seeing debate in progress.

I rise today to support the amendments by the member for Blair to the two bills that are currently before the House: the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 and the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Care Changes (Amendment) Bill 2014. The amendments by the member for Blair clearly outline the failure of this government to adequately support the aged-care sector. In particular, the amendments note that the government has failed to provide alternative assistance in meeting the demands of the aged-care workforce—an issue I will return to later. The government has also failed to ensure that repurpose funds be utilised for workforce pay, conditions and development; to consult with or inform the aged-care sector of budget cuts, including the axing of $653 million in aged-care payroll tax supplement; to consult with or inform the aged-care sector of the axing of the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement until after the 2014 budget—one of the cruellest cuts this government has wreaked on the aged-care sector. Finally, those amendments also note the government's failure to oversee the management of aged-care funding as evidenced by the oversubscription of the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement and the undersubscription of the Dementia and Cognition Supplement and the Veterans' Supplement.

While Labor are not outrightly opposing these bills, we do not support the unfair nature of the cuts and the dismissive treatment of aged care by this government since coming to office. A central part of Labor's Living Longer Living Better package was the introduction of the $1.2 billion Aged Care Workforce Supplement to improve workers' pays and conditions, to enhance their training, and to better structure career pathways for those working in the sector. The sector, of course, has a high turnover of staff, low pay and poor conditions, and the supplement was aimed at addressing a growing need to broadly improve employment for workers today and to ensure that the sector is still seen as a viable career option, because demand for staff will greatly increase in the future.

I would take issue with the previous speaker—and, indeed, with most of the members opposite who have made a contribution to this debate—who declared that Labor's concern in this area as an act of self-interest, or the old fallback position which members opposite often arrive at, to attack unions or those who dare to stand up to give voice to those who are vulnerable in a workplace, who are on low pay, who are battling constantly with the increased casualisation of the workforce and the vulnerability of working shifts. So, it is a shame to hear that argument being progressed in this chamber. It would be a strong message for this government and for the opposition to deliver bipartisan concern for the health and wellbeing of the aged-care workforce and sector.

Clearly, the demand for more staff in the aged-care sector is going to be extremely significant. The Productivity Commission's report, Caring for older Australians, has predicted that we will need three times the aged-care workforce than we currently have by 2050. The $1.2 billion workforce supplement was going to deliver pay rises for some 350,000 aged-care workers who are, as I said, some of the lowest paid workers in Australia. Labor is concerned with the redirection of the workforce supplement funds. While the extension of the funding is, indeed, welcome, the funds will now be given directly to providers with no guarantees or conditions that it will support workers through pay increases, improved conditions or professional and career development. Preparing our aged-care system for the future requires vigilance, political will and real investment, all of which this government is sadly lacking. While Labor support the continued rollout of our Living Longer Living Better reforms, we will continue to hold the government to account to help ensure that older Australians get the strong and sustainable aged-care system they deserve.

This Prime Minister and Treasurer's first budget has been widely criticised for very good reason. Some five months on and it is still the stinking carcass around the government's neck, and the way it unfairly targets low- to middle-income earners is especially worrying. One of the many surprises it delivered was a blow to the for-profit aged-care providers. The aged-care sector is hardly known for massive profits with the Aged Care Financing Authority reporting that the average net profit, before-tax margin across the sector is just 5.6 per cent. The sector has been left reeling from the ending of the Aged Care Payroll Tax Supplement from 1 January next year, which is a $653 million hit over four years. It is the flow-on effect and the cumulative impact, which cuts like this will have, that hit our families and our communities hardest. In this case, effective providers will need to recoup this impost by increasing accommodation charges, and it will erode the capacity for the sector to increase staffing levels, pay and conditions for, as I said, some of the lowest paid workers in the country.

The cut was a sudden blow for the sector at a time when it must continue to grow. A number of large providers had planned significant investment over the coming years, but are now being forced to rethink their plans based on the cessation of the supplement. The Minister for Social Services cut this funding with no consultation and with no prior warning. The so-called 'open for business' government continues to spring surprises on business sectors that need to grow. Instead these businesses are now forced to slam on the brakes due to the shock policy announcement and massive funding cuts. The Abbott government clearly has not considered how the demand for some 75,000 additional aged-care places that will be required over the next decade will be met. In contrast Labor did the heavy lifting in aged-care when in government. Our Living Longer Living Better reforms provided fairness and equity for older Australians while ensuring longer term sustainability for the sector. These reforms were undertaken with extensive sector and community consultation, collaboration and cooperation—indeed, as it should be. It is a strategy that, regretfully, this government refuses to engage in. Labor joins with the aged-care sector in expressing disappointment at the disregard given to aged care in the budget and the lack of prior consultation with the sector.

Perhaps the cruellest of all cuts to the aged-care sector has been the axing of the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, last year, it was estimated that 322,000 Australians have dementia and, based on projections of population ageing and growth, the number of people with dementia will reach almost 400,000 by 2020 and around 900,000 by 2050. One in 10 Australians aged over 65 have dementia, three in 10 over age 85 have dementia, and 50 per cent of permanent residents in Australian government funded aged-care facilities have a diagnosis of dementia.

Dementia is a growing issue in our country, in particular in my community in Newcastle. The New South Wales branch of Alzheimer's Australia estimates that the Newcastle and Hunter region have some of the highest dementia prevalence rates in the state, and prevalence rates in the region are forecast to increase by up to 438 per cent by 2050. Aged care providers in my electorate are very concerned about the prospect of a service shortage as the population grows and ages. They already have massive waiting lists and demand will grow exponentially in the next 30 years. Its impact on those living with dementia, their families and their carers and workers in the sector cannot be ignored.

Labor introduced the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement on 1 August 2013 as part of the Living Longer Living Better measures to tackle dementia. The supplement provided additional financial assistance to approved facilities in recognition of the additional costs of caring for people with dementia and severe behaviours associated with a diagnosis of a relevant medical condition. Approved providers could claim an additional $16.15 per day, indexed annually, in respect of an eligible care recipient.

On 26 June this year, the Assistant Minister for Social Services announced that the supplement was being cut in one month's time. In spite of his assurances that he had consulted with the industry, providers were kept in the dark and were shocked and horrified at the decision to cut the supplement. To date, there has been just one roundtable discussion about the issue but there have been no solutions, alternatives or investigations. All of this is from a supposedly no-surprises, no-excuses government.

As I mentioned earlier, as our population ages and dementia affects more and more Australians, we need to do more, not less, to address dementia and support those affected by it. The previous Labor government did that heavy lifting to make aged care sustainable and fairer, with wide community and sector support. In contrast, the Abbott government's legacy will be the dumping of the Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement; the slashing of more than $650 million from the aged care payroll tax supplement; cuts to pensions, which will affect aged care sector revenue streams; the demolition of the $1.1 billion aged care work supplement; and the abolition of Health Workforce Australia. Older Australians in residential aged care, and those who will need care in the future, deserve better.

Australia's population is growing but it is still ageing. More of us are living longer. For the first time in our nation's history there are now more people turning pension age each year than there are turning working age. Our aged care system has struggled to keep pace with the needs and expectations of our ageing population. As our population continues to age the pressure on our system will continue to increase. That is why federal Labor invested $3.7 billion in a new aged care system fit for the future.

In the single biggest investment in aged care in a generation, Living Longer Living Better is a ten-year strategy for reform of our age care system, designed to provide older Australians with the aged care they want and need, no matter where they live and not matter what their financial means are. It is a strategy that helps to lift the quality of care for those in aged care facilities and allows more people to get care in their own homes. It is about current and future generations of older Australians.

Federal Labor remains committed to building a new age care system built on the principles of respect, dignity and choice that will have capacity to provide quality, affordable, accessible and appropriate care to a rapidly growing population of older Australians over the coming decades. Senior Australians and, indeed, all Australians deserve nothing less. It is time the Abbott Liberal government stood up to the task ahead. The aged care sector knows well there is no time to lose.

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