MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Mr GREGG (Deakin) (16:21): This is an incredibly serious topic. After all, the way we judge a society is by how we care for its most vulnerable. We know that the aged-care system was correctly categorised as a reflection of neglect in that initial report in 2019.

There have been years of ignoring the statistical fact that we are an ageing population and that more and more of us are getting older and will need support. And what was done? Not enough.

Now we're at the stage where we would need about 10,000 extra aged-care beds a year for a whole number of years even to keep up. As the member for Boothby quite rightly noted, that would be about three extra facilities a week for the next 20 years. That is a mammoth task, and it's not going to be easy.

It's going to take a very long time to make up for a very long period of ignoring the obvious and predictable outcome of becoming an ageing population. Older Australians have deserved a steadfast resolve to improve the system. Up until this government, they haven't had it.

The legislation was changed, and it is already making a difference. Tens of thousands more Australians are now receiving care in their own homes. Does that mean we're content with the system as it is?

Of course not. We're not asking people to be pleased about the status quo. In fact, we are doing everything we can to drive it forward to make sure more older people can live their remaining years and complete their final seasons with dignity and with as much health as possible.

But this is a mammoth task. It was something that we committed to do together, across party lines, not that long ago, but in a desperate attempt to find partisan issues and reasons for grievance, we now see these debates devolve into personal attacks—personal attacks relating to the implementation of legislation they voted for, no less. These are incredibly serious matters, and I take them seriously and, I have to say, so does the minister.

In Ringwood North in my electorate of Deakin we had an aged-care facility, Della Dale, that simply hadn't been meeting standards over a long period of time. The aged-care quality and service regulator had made that clear and had given them every opportunity to make a difference. The difficult decision was made to close that facility down.

I have to thank the minister for all his assistance in helping to ensure that all of the residents in that facility were relocated to ensure that they received the care that they needed going forward. The reality is that we cannot let standards slip. We know from the royal commission that, because of neglect, too many older Australians were left malnourished and effectively abandoned during the day, and some were subjected to all sorts of torrid abuse too graphic to describe in this chamber.

It was a system failure, and it was allowed to happen for years. It was a case of out of sight, out of mind. Well, no more.

It's time that, as a whole, this parliament stands up for older Australians. We must make sure that we insist upon a proper quality standard across the industry, and we're working to do just that. Not only are we investing in more facilities; we have got a clear focus on ensuring that they meet appropriate standards and that the rights of older people are taken into consideration in the design and delivery of aged-care services across the board.

Are we there yet? Of course we're not, but we need to make sure that the standards that we uphold are what we would want for our own families, because I think all of us have got a story of an elderly loved one who has been subjected to care that we would find simply unacceptable. These are the most vulnerable people in our community, and we do have to stand up for them.

They've referred to a change to the subsidy for private health insurance, and, as the minister said, that is going straight into aged care to ensure that people receive the supports they need at home, because we know that, the longer they can stay at home, the higher their quality of life is. This isn't just a game about people living longer. We have to make sure that older Australians who have contributed their entire lives to our society get to complete their final innings with dignity, to make sure that families aren't left tearing their hair out worried about their loved ones not receiving the support they desire—people with family members with dementia worrying that there are going to be chemical restraints in facilities just because they're understaffed or because there's no nurse in the nursing home.

This government has taken clear action—the remarkable idea that a nursing home should have a nurse in it. Finally, a government came in and made that the standard, and we are seeing it in the vast majority of aged-care facilities now. These issues could not be more serious.

In addition to that, in other areas of policy—the MPI goes to governing for older Australians—across portfolios, we're seeing more work being done in superannuation to ensure that older people receive advice before they retire to improve their retirement outcomes. In areas of communication, we're ensuring that the antiscams frameworks are preventing criminals from taking advantage of older Australians.

Across the board, we are taking into account the legitimate rights and interests of older people because we know that older Australians need a government that has their back, and they can rely on the Labor government to do everything we can to improve their lives and conditions. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): This discussion has concluded.