With the passage of the Albanese Government’s Aged Care Bill through the Senate, the Coalition has upheld our commitment to a rights-based act for older Australians to guarantee a world-class aged care system into the future.
However, the Coalition has been concerned by several shortcomings in the Bill, resulting from the Government’s lack of consultation with older Australians and the broader aged care sector.
Conversations were kept behind closed doors for far too long.
Within the Albanese Government’s reform framework, the Coalition has fought for dignity and clarity for older Australians and future generations.
Through good-faith negotiations, we fought to ensure that Australians who have worked hard all their lives to save for their retirement are dealt a fairer deal, through the inclusion of grandfathering arrangements, lifetime caps on contributions, a much lower taper rate, and an assurance that the Federal Government will remain the majority funder of aged care.
By securing an open inquiry into the reforms, which travelled to every single Australian state and territory, the Coalition also ensured older Australians had the opportunity to have their say.
The feedback received through the inquiry led to the Coalition securing further important changes to the Government’s reform package, including:
• The removal of the Government’s arbitrary caps on cleaning and gardening services in the home care system, which denied older Australians choice on how to spend their home care package,
• Additional inquiries into the unseen associated Rules, which will contain key details on how the reforms will be implemented, to provide older Australians ongoing opportunities to have their say,
• Ensuring the powers of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to place provisions on the aged care sector are subject to the scrutiny of the Parliament,
• Greater transparency and accountability for the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner,
• Ensuring that no aged care resident is ever denied access to the person that they designate, or a person designated under appropriate authority, and
• A commitment by the Government to release an additional 83,000 home care packages, as a result of the Coalition standing up for the 76,000 older Australians waiting for a home care package under this government.
However, the Government has failed to further support older Australians by voting against our amendments that would have:
• Ensured there is an adequate transition period and arrangements in place, so that this significant package of reforms can be implemented without perverse impacts for older Australians and the sector, and
• Provided for increased flexibility in the Government’s Registered Nurse workforce requirements, to reflect the ongoing workforce crisis and to protect in particular aged care homes in rural and regional areas.
The Coalition continues to call on the Government to be transparent and release all of the associated Rules as soon as possible. Withholding this critical information prevents all stakeholders from being able to understand and prepare for the full impact of the reforms
The Coalition also calls out the Australian Greens for their failed attempt to remove Chapter 4 from the Bill, which would have defunded the aged care sector.
ENDS
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