What will you be doing in Goldstein about the Royal Commission final report on aged care?

We all acknowledge that we need to ensure respect and care is given to our most senior Australians. Many aged care residents are vulnerable.

Goldstein has a large population of senior Australians and a number of aged care providers.

The Morrison Government has responded with a record $17.7 billion package to address the recommendations in the Royal Commission. Many aged care residents and providers in Goldstein will benefit from this record support.

I will continue to be a strong advocate for the needs of residents, and those who have family members in aged care.

Aged care is important in Goldstein, as it is in all areas of Melbourne.  If you go to the trouble of a Royal Commission it makes sense to adopt many of the recommendations weighing up all factors including avoiding duplication of services and government waste.  

The dreadful state of aged care is a national problem and has to be fixed immediately.

Aged care should not be run for the profits of big businesses . It should be run to make sure we’re looking after older Australians, giving them the quality of life they deserve, because it’s the right thing to do.

Cost cutting, underfunding, poor wages and conditions have all contributed to the terrible situation we have now.

We need to make sure workers are properly paid, trained and supported so they can provide high quality care.

There have been more than twenty substantial official inquiries into the aged care system over the past twenty years. The recent Royal Commission seems to have been mostly ignored along with all the others.

I believe we need to do so much more to safeguard and ensure better treatment of older Australians. Labor is committed to reforming aged care by:

- Registered nurses on site 24/7: every aged care facility will be required to have a registered, qualified nurse on site, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

- More carers with more time to care: We will mandate that every Australian living in aged care receives an average of 215 minutes of care per day, as recommended by the Royal Commission. 

- A pay rise for aged care workers: Labor will support workers’ calls for better pay at the Fair Work Commission. And a Labor Government will fund the outcome of this case. 

- Better food for residents: A Labor Government will work with the sector to develop and implement mandatory nutrition standards for aged care homes to ensure every resident gets good food.

- Dollars going to care: Labor will make residential care providers report – in public and in detail – what they are spending money on. 

- Labor will introduce tough penalties and new transparency measures to protect Australians in aged care, including a new aged care complaints commissioner, a stronger duty of care requirement and stronger civil and criminal penalties. 

• Aged care is a particularly fraught issue at this election. Despite Government profligacy with taxpayer money, there is consensus that standards in aged care have declined precipitously

• My detailed aged care policy addresses many of these issues, including the need for culturally appropriate aged care services. For example, Goldstein has a significant Chinese-Australian community.  3.8% of Goldstein’s residents have Chinese heritage; however, there are no Chinese-specific residential aged care services in the vicinity of the electorate. Indeed, despite Victoria’s population of 370,644 people with Chinese ancestry, there are only three culturally specific facilities catering to them, with a total of only 198 beds, in the suburbs of Parkville, Ascot Vale, and Donvale – nowhere near where Goldstein’s residents and their families live.

• If elected, I will advocate for every sector of the community, and will fight for those entering residential aged care, to ensure their specific cultural, linguistic, dietary and spiritual preferences and needs are adequately catered for.

My Nanna was in an aged care facility for 10 years, as she was paralysed – or she would have been living with me. The family constantly took in meals, provided entertainment, and subsidised her care to ensure her wellbeing and comfort. This is an area that is very important to me. I have read the summary reporting and found it deeply disturbing. The reality is that funding has reduced in real terms over the last 20 years. This has impacted staffing levels, facilities and even the medical care and nutrition of our elderly in care. It has limited the amount of in-home assistance available to keep people in the environments they are comfortable in. Other policies, such as low pensions, limits on supplementing pensions with part-time work and increased tax on self-managed superfunds have increased the overall burden on the system and directly impacted our elderly. The system does need a complete overall, with the primary focus being health, safety, kindness and empathy.

As the member for Goldstein, I would advocate genuine and robust change by:

• Advocating for a complete rebuild of the aged care system and appropriate funding, as recommended by the commission, which directly impacts Goldstein facilities and residents.

• Advocate stronger integration of aged care with the health system for more effective outcomes.

• Work directly with our community to support increased staffing levels in facilities and better home care – especially for special needs individuals.

• Supporting the $100 per week increase to the Work Bonus scheme proposed by our party, to allow pensioners to better supplement their income for self care.

• Review the current voluntary services with the community to identify improvements through better co-ordination and use of resources (my business background is handy here).

• Fighting against higher retirement ages, which impact health and quality of life for our elderly, necessitating more care.