Today’s embarrassing backflip by the Albanese Labor Government on the delivery of their aged care reforms is a clear admission of failure — and one that could have been avoided.
The decision to the delay the start date for the new aged care reforms is the right decision for older Australians, aged care providers and home care operators.
However, it is only necessary because the Government refused to listen to the concerns of the aged care sector and the Opposition.
This refusal has created months of stress and uncertainty for providers and older Australians, only for the Government to now backdown with little more than three weeks to go until their deadline.
In the last Parliament, the Opposition offered a sensible solution to the Government to implement a 12-month transition period, which would have allowed aged care providers, workers, and older Australians the time they needed to prepare for the Government’s significant package of reforms.
The Albanese Government voted multiple times against the Opposition’s amendment to the Aged Care Bill, which would have avoided this damaging situation.
Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston said this decision today confirms what the Opposition has been saying all along.
“The Government was warned. We put forward a responsible, measured amendment to ensure that their reforms could be rolled out safely and effectively, and Labor opposed it,” Shadow Minister Ruston said.
“The aged care sector has been crying out that the 1 July deadline was not deliverable without causing serious negative consequences. Why has it taken the Government until 5 minutes to midnight to alleviate the stress and uncertainty they have inflicted?
“The Minister clearly believed the job was done once the legislation passed through Parliament, but the reality is that that’s when the real work begins. It is a sad indictment that the essential services relied on by older Australians have paid the price for this government’s incompetence.
“Labor promised to put the care back into aged care. Instead, we have seen them refuse to listen to hardworking aged care providers, create serious stress and uncertainty around the provision of care to older Australians, and oversee a home care wait list that has spiralled out of control – leaving more than 83,000 people waiting for the care they need.
“It’s time the Government starts doing the hard work necessary to ensure that older Australians have access to the care they need and deserve, when they need it.”
ENDS
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