QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Mr RAE (Hawke—Minister for Aged Care and Seniors) (14:17): I thank the member for her question, and I acknowledge her genuine interest in ensuring that every older person in her community can access safe, dignified and high-quality aged-care services. I am not familiar with the particular circumstances of Fred but will be happy to take advice after question time from the member and follow up on his personal circumstances.
However, I can provide some more general information to the member and to the House about co-contributions and means testing, to which the member's question pertains. The Albanese Labor government's once-in-a-generation aged-care reforms are focused on ensuring that we have an equitable and sustainable aged-care system that delivers the care that every older person across our country needs and deserves.
The new funding model is designed to make our aged-care system more sustainable and to encourage investment in new facilities. These are both important parts of our plan to support the growing needs of an ageing population. In the next 40 years, the number of Australians aged over 65 is expected to more than double, while the number of those aged 85 or older will more than triple.
We worked closely with those opposite to seek a bipartisan approach to aged-care sector sustainability. The new Aged Care Act, which starts this weekend, legislates a new funding model which was developed in response to expert advice from the Aged Care Taskforce. Under the new model, people who can contribute to their care will, while people who are less well off will receive extra support.
These changes are about ensuring that the government can afford to continue as the primary funder of the aged-care system. Importantly, the government will continue to cover the full cost of clinical care for all residential and in-home care. A key feature of Support at Home is the services list, which outlines services that can be accessed under the program.
The department engaged with a range of aged-care stakeholders to test and refine the Support at Home service list to ensure it recognises the needs of older people in the context of the broader universal health system, including Medicare. There are protections in place so that people aren't worse off. A person who is in residential aged care when the new laws come in will remain under the current means-testing arrangements unless they choose to opt into the new system.
With Support at Home, the in-home care program, the no-worse-off principle applies, so anyone who was in the system before 12 September 2024 will have their contributions grandfathered. Older people having difficulty paying their co-contributions will be able to apply for very substantial hardship assistance through Services Australia, and a lifetime contribution cap will apply for everybody.
Our goal is to make sure that every older person across Australia can access the safe, dignified and high-quality care they need and deserve.