5 years ago
FIRST HEARING OF ROYAL COMMISSION INTO AGED CARE
HON JULIE COLLINS MP
Labor welcomes the start of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety today.
The stories Australians hear will be shocking but they are not surprising. Labor has been saying for a long time that the aged care system is in crisis.
Scott Morrison cut $1.2 billion from aged care in his first Budget as Treasurer, with the Government cutting billions over the last five years.
You don’t fix aged care by cutting it.
The Royal Commission is an opportunity for older Australians and their loved ones to tell their stories. Labor will be following closely.
There should be no issue off limits. This includes examining the use of psychotropic drugs and physical restraints in residential aged care settings.
Over the past five years under the Liberals there has been little action from three Prime Ministers and three Aged Care Ministers.
When Bill Shorten said the aged care system was in crisis in the Parliament in May last year, the Government likened it to committing elder abuse.
The waiting list for home care has grown to 127,000 older Australians, with many waiting more than a year to receive the care they have been approved for.
There are more than a dozen reviews and hundreds of recommendations on aged care issues that have been ignored by the government. This isn’t good enough.
We should judge ourselves as a nation by how we treat our elderly.
We will be a fairer and more generous country when we give elderly Australians the love, care and respect that they deserve.
The stories Australians hear will be shocking but they are not surprising. Labor has been saying for a long time that the aged care system is in crisis.
Scott Morrison cut $1.2 billion from aged care in his first Budget as Treasurer, with the Government cutting billions over the last five years.
You don’t fix aged care by cutting it.
The Royal Commission is an opportunity for older Australians and their loved ones to tell their stories. Labor will be following closely.
There should be no issue off limits. This includes examining the use of psychotropic drugs and physical restraints in residential aged care settings.
Over the past five years under the Liberals there has been little action from three Prime Ministers and three Aged Care Ministers.
When Bill Shorten said the aged care system was in crisis in the Parliament in May last year, the Government likened it to committing elder abuse.
The waiting list for home care has grown to 127,000 older Australians, with many waiting more than a year to receive the care they have been approved for.
There are more than a dozen reviews and hundreds of recommendations on aged care issues that have been ignored by the government. This isn’t good enough.
We should judge ourselves as a nation by how we treat our elderly.
We will be a fairer and more generous country when we give elderly Australians the love, care and respect that they deserve.