PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr PIKE (Bowman) (11:31): After a lifetime of working, raising families, paying taxes and contributing to our communities, older Australians should be able to expect that, when they need help, help will be there for them. But today, too many Australians are finding that the aged-care system is broken, and it is causing real hardship, distress and uncertainty for aging Australians and their families.
It's not just about statistics and a government report; it's about people who are trying to remain independent in their own homes but cannot get the support that they've been assessed as needing. It's about families who are desperately trying to navigate a very complicated system while watching their parents, grandparents or loved ones struggle. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has recently confirmed that an older person assessed as a standard priority for a Support at Home package is currently waiting between 300 and 330 days—almost a year.
For someone who is healthy and independent, 300 days might not sound like that long of a time, but for an 80- or 90-year-old who cannot safely shower without assistance, who struggles to prepare meals or who is at risk at falling, who needs help simply to remain living independently, 300 days is an eternity. A recent KPMG report found that almost 100,000 Australians who have already been assessed as needing a particular level of care are still waiting for that care to become available.
These people just want the government to deliver the support that they have been assessed as requiring. Even when an older Australian finally gets their funding approved, that does not necessarily mean they will receive the care that they're expecting. Many families are increasingly finding that there simply aren't enough providers or workers available to deliver the services that they've been approved for.
This is something I've heard directly from many of my constituents within the Redlands. A few months ago, I conducted a My Aged Care survey to hear from local families about their experiences within the system. The response was deeply concerning: 52 per cent of respondents reported waiting nine months or more for their approved aged-care package to become available, and 62 per cent of respondents reported facing issues with a lack of supplier providers once their package was provided.
In particular, one constituent, an 82-year-old man living alone after suffering a stroke, told me about his experience. He has a level 2 Home Care Package, but it is completely inadequate for his needs. He cannot stand without a walker.
He's scared of falling when he showers, when he shaves and even when he gets out of bed. Two years ago, he requested a reassessment, for which he said he is still waiting. And, because of the limited support he receives, he cannot visit his wife, who's currently living in a nearby nursing home.
Another constituent who tried to arrange care for her mother was given a list of 116 providers and told to contact them one by one to compare services, cost and availability. Imagine being an elderly person or the child of an elderly person and being told that after finally navigating the very complex assessment process you must now call more than 100 providers yourself to find out whether anyone can actually help.
The system isn't just difficult; it's exhausting, and it is failing the people it is designed to support. We need to remember what aged care is supposed to be about. It is supposed to provide dignity, independence and security for older Australians.
It is supposed to give families confidence that when their loved ones need help they will not be left to navigate an endless bureaucratic maze. And it is supposed to make it possible for older Australians to remain safely within their own home for as long as they possibly can. Instead, too many Australians are being left waiting, too many families are being left frustrated, and too many approved home care packages are failing to translate into actual care for older people within our communities.
The government cannot simply announce another reform and declare the job done. The Minister for Health and Ageing must immediately explain why these delays continue, what specific action is being taken to reduce them, and what they are doing to make sure that when an older Australian receives an approved package there is actually someone available to deliver these services.
These are all reasonable questions and are the questions being asked by people within my electorate. We cannot accept a system where an older person can be approved for care but cannot access it. We cannot accept a system where someone can wait nearly a year for support.
And we cannot accept a system where families are left to pick up the pieces where government bureaucracies fail. Older Australians have spent their lives building this country. When an older Australian needs care, waiting almost a year is simply not good enough.
The government must fix My Aged Care, address these growing concerns and take the action required.