QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Mr RAE (Hawke—Minister for Aged Care and Seniors) (14:56): I thank the member for Richmond. As a former minister for ageing, she plays a critical role in shaping our government's approach to our once-in-a-generation reforms to the aged-care system. More and more older Australians are wanting to stay in their homes for as long as they can, and they deserve to be able to do that with dignity and safety.
This Labor government is doing all we can to meet that record demand for home care. But the people who make it all possible are the dedicated, highly skilled aged-care workers who knock on the doors of older Australians each and every day: the driver who gets them to their medical appointments, the nurse who checks their vitals and changes their dressings and the local council worker who makes sure that their house is clean and the pantry is stocked.
When Support at Home began 12 months ago, we knew our work wasn't over. We said we'd continuously improve how we run home care in this country. How have we done that?
We've taken the time to listen to older people and those that care for them. They told us showering, dressing and continence care should be treated as clinical care. So that's what we did.
On 1 October, personal care under Support at Home became fully funded by the Albanese Labor government, a $1 billion investment for almost 400,000 Australians funded in the budget using PHI savings. That means the conversation between older Australians and their home-care provider can be more about care and not about cost. We've also listened to the more than 800,000 older Australians who rely on the Commonwealth Home Support Program for their aged care.
Around 1,300 providers deliver those services—councils, community groups, Meals on Wheels, not-for-profits—and they told us they needed certainty, so we've extended the program to 2029. That's giving confidence not just to providers but to the older people who rely on it and the thousands of workers who deliver it. Listening to what people need is how we've backed this workforce from day one, when workers were leaving the sector thanks to their paltry wages under the former coalition government.
We came to office, and we increased aged-care wages. We invested $18 billion. We put registered nurses in every aged-care home around the clock 24/7.
As you can see, Mr Speaker, while there's more work to do, we're making progress to build and strengthen our aged-care workforce, but instead those opposite want to get rid of the visas that many of these workers rely on to work here. That will shrink our aged-care workforce and leave older Australians waiting longer for aged care. That's the difference.
They see a workforce they can cut and a care economy they can gut. There is always more work to do, but this Labor government listens to older people. We listen to the workers who care for them, and we'll continue to deliver for both.