Government caves to demand, will release more home care packages

4 months ago

Tens of thousands more older Australians will receive care in their own homes after the Opposition put pressure on the government to speed up the roll out. The Coalition, Greens and crossbench had urged the government not to delay support any longer.

Transcript

00:00Well, to show the extent of the problem here, Jo, and exactly what the wait list is, I'll

00:06go through some figures first.

00:08You've got nearly 109,000 older Australians that have been approved for in-home care but

00:14are still waiting for that care.

00:16And then another 121,000 people still waiting to be assessed for an in-home care package.

00:23What these packages are, it's essentially providing help to an older Australian in their

00:27home so they don't have to move into a nursing home.

00:30So it may be with cleaning around the house or helping them shower or get meals ready.

00:34Now, the government is all too aware of this huge backlog.

00:37It promised to provide an additional 83,000 places initially from July.

00:43They then pushed it back to November.

00:45And that's where the debate has really come into play in the past few weeks in particular.

00:50The opposition, the Greens and the crossbenchers urging the government to bring that date forward,

00:55saying that older Australians can't wait until November.

00:58That's just simply too far away.

01:00Now, the government all was but forced into changing their plan today due to that pressure

01:06coming from the opposition, the crossbench and independent David Pocock, announcing that,

01:11yes, they will allow an extra 20,000 aged care packages for in-home between now and October.

01:19Another 20,000 from November through till Christmas and the remaining for the first half of next

01:25year.

01:26Let's take a listen to the aged care minister, Sam Ray speaking.

01:29Our focus has always been on making sure that we get as much care to as many people as

01:34possible.

01:35And we've always taken a principled approach to these reforms that that should be done

01:38on a bipartisan basis.

01:39So today, we've been able to reach a bipartisan agreement.

01:42We're bringing forward 20,000 of the 83,000 support-at-home packages.

01:48And Stephanie, what's the reaction been?

01:50So the opposition is claiming this as a win.

01:52As you heard there, the government is insisting this is all about being bipartisan.

01:57But in reality, when you look at the politics going on here, the government didn't want

02:00to lose any votes within parliament.

02:03So it did need to work with the opposition, the Greens and the crossbench on this matter.

02:09Aside from the opposition, you know, so-called claiming a win, we have heard from some within

02:14the sector as well saying that yes, they are ready to ensure that these home care packages

02:19are offered to older Australians as soon as possible.

02:24This is not a deal, Prime Minister.

02:27This is a defeat because Labor has been dragged kicking and screaming to implement what we have

02:36spent this week demanding that they do.

02:39What really made me angry in question time this week was when Labor characterised this

02:46as a short delay.

02:48You tell that to a 97-year-old who's desperate at home, frightened every day whether they're

02:56going to get the care they need with no help arriving.

03:00Every 24 hours is a nightmare.

03:02It's going to make an immense difference because many have been waiting for some time for a package.

03:09It's the difference between them going into hospital potentially.

03:13And so it's going to make a significant contribution and difference to their lives and we're very

03:19pleased with that.

03:20So an additional 83,000 home care packages between now and July of next year.

03:27The question though remains as well, there is still a growing rate list how to ensure other

03:33older Australians get the care they need to.

03:35That's an issue that the Government will need to continue to address.

Government caves to demand, will release more home care packages

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