Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra
Bills
A society should be judged on how it cares for its most vulnerable. My husband's nanna, Dawn Hurst, is 98 years old. She's an amazing and tough woman who's done a wonderful job of bringing up her children. She loves her children dearly and she's contributed to her community year after year. From the age of 95, her health deteriorated. It was really heartbreaking to witness this. Her daughters, who loved her so dearly, during this time basically decided to go on a family roster and stay with her 24 hours a day. They did this because they did not have trust or faith in the aged-care sector. They did this because they loved her, but they also did this because they did not have trust. At that time, we were seeing the horrors that were being shown through the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. They wanted to hold out for as long as possible to keep her out of that system. Eventually, Dawn's needs became quite high, and they found an aged-care home that they were happy with. But what this highlighted to me is that we need to fix the system. We need to make sure that this is not something unusual. We need to fix it for all Australians.
Our most experienced citizens have given our country so much. Heck, they built this country. They deserve dignity and respect in their oldest and most vulnerable years. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety received over 10,000 submissions and called over 600 witnesses. The commission consulted widely in its deliberations over an almost 2½-year period. What came from this shocked me. I felt shame. And it was worrying to see that there was a sense of acceptance of what was happening in our aged-care sector. In some of the cases that we discovered, residents were left soiled for extended periods of time due to understaffing. Nappy rash is something that babies experience; it's not something that our older citizens should experience. The average that was spent on residents' food was about $6 a day. Prisoners, in comparison, receive about $8 a day. Incontinence pads, in one instance, were left unchanged for 16 hours. There were also several cases of wounds being left untreated and festering. And then there was also malnourishment and weight loss due not just to the quality of the food but also to residents not being assisted with eating. No-one in my community of Swan would accept this, and, really, no Australian would accept this.
But let me be clear: this is not about blaming workers, who are frequently overworked and underpaid and who honestly want what's best for residents. Often, it's these workers who become whistleblowers, highlight these affronts and want to see increased dignity. What it's about is the system, and the royal commission highlighted that we need to fix the system. We need to set up workers and residents for success. I also want to recognise the workers for all they've done to help our elderly and vulnerable, and I'd like to acknowledge the work the United Workers Union has done to highlight some of the issues we're discussing today.
Unfortunately, we can't fix the problem without fundamentally understanding the problem. There's the saying that you can't manage it if you're not measuring it, but the system also needs to ensure that there's integrity in the numbers and integrity in the complaints and that complaints are being handled properly. There needs to be trust in the system. I'll read a quote from volume 1 of the interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety:
People become unwilling to complain for fear that care will become worse, as they or their family member will be labelled as 'difficult' by the provider. Several submissions have highlighted occasions where the treatment of the older person deteriorated after complaints from family members—with neglect transforming into the withholding of care. It is disturbing that the aged care sector is not sufficiently mature or professional to listen to feedback from those who use and observe its services at close hand, particularly when the regulatory system appears so distant and ineffectual.
The thing that I'd say is that this systemic problem has not been fixed. A friend whose father is in aged care explained to me that her father had complained about a particular carer. That carer was then moved off his ward, but then other carers treated him differently because he complained. They treated him unfairly.
So that's what this bill is about. It's about sunlight. Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant, and there's a sickness at the core of parts of this sector and that must be challenged by shining a light onto these practices and empowering complaints. That's exactly what this bill will do.
Another one of my constituents came to my office with a really serious aged-care issue involving misconduct. An aged-care worker had come into their home to provide care and assistance to them, and instead this person had received verbal abuse. It wasn't what they were expecting. This experience left them shaking. They have expressed that they would like to see greater transparency in aged care and that this is something that needs to be fixed. If action on the issue of transparency had been taken sooner, perhaps my constituent would have had a more positive experience.
Those who are in aged care are some of the most vulnerable Australians, and we must stick up for them, and that's what this bill is about. All of us, whether it is the Department of Health and Aged Care, aged-care providers or the Parliament of Australia, must be held accountable for the decisions we make and the outcomes that they create for our aged and vulnerable.
The Inspector-General of Aged Care Bill reinforces the Albanese Labor government's commitment to be open and transparent with the Australian public. This bill will establish an independent inspector-general of aged care who will monitor and investigate the Commonwealth's administration and regulation of the aged-care system. This is an inspector-general who will shine a light on uncomfortable and systematic issues and investigate the root causes. When you understand the root cause of a problem, you can come up with solutions to fix it. This is an inspector-general who will report findings and recommendations to government, to parliament and to the public to instil greater accountability and transparency across the aged-care system and, in turn, facilitate positive change for older Australians and their families.
This bill directly corresponds to recommendations 12 and 148 of the royal commission. Recommendation 12 said:
The Australian Government should establish an independent office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care to investigate, monitor and report on the administration and governance of the aged care system.
Recommendation 148 said:
- The Inspector-General of Aged Care should monitor the implementation of recommendations and should report to the responsible Minister and directly to the Parliament at least every six months on the implementation of the recommendations.
- The Inspector-General of Aged Care should undertake independent evaluations of the effectiveness of the measures and actions taken in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission, five and 10 years after the tabling of the Final Report.
- The Inspector-General of Aged Care should report on these evaluations five and 10 years after the tabling of the Final Report.
I believe in continuous improvement. This is a characteristic of high-performing organisations. We always have to strive for better. Continuous improvement is actually a critical component of the resources sector. The thing I would say is that this is a culture that's important in all sectors. We should constantly be looking at what's working and what's not. This is a conversation that should be public. We should ensure that when systematic issues become apparent the inspector-general prepares a final review report that is tabled by the minister in parliament.
What we as the parliament are undertaking is truly transformative. We are setting in place measures to grant dignity in older age and ensure quality care, which will contribute to the greatness of our towns, cities and country. The interim report said:
The Australian community generally accepts that older people have earned the chance to enjoy their later years, after many decades of contribution and hard work. Yet the language of public discourse is not respectful towards older people. Rather, it is about burden, encumbrance, obligation and whether taxpayers can afford to pay for the dependence of older people.
What we have brought before the 47th Parliament challenges this view, and I hope that our actions today meet the expectations of community and ensure that dignity and care is afforded to those in need. Most importantly, this bill is about restoring trust in our aged-care providers to do the right thing by residents; trust in our agencies to offer effective regulation and oversight of our aged-care providers; and trust in the Australian government to do the right thing by the community.
I think that it's important when we're in this place that we remember what we're doing; what we're doing is talking about people, who are at the heart of this bill. It's about someone's brother, or sister, or mother or father. I know that, for me, I could not do my job as a member without the support of my 84-year-old mother. In my culture, the idea of aged care is a bit of a foreign concept. The thing that I know is that, if there comes a time when my mother or father needs access to aged care then I want to make sure that they're getting the best care possible. I don't want it to be a unique experience for them; it needs to be amazing quality for all Australians. In the end, what this bill is about is happiness and health, and I want that not only for people in aged care but also for the workers too. Having access to a positive work environment is really important.
During the election campaign, the team and I knocked on 45,000 doors, and I remember one particular conversation that I had with a woman who was a migrant and had come to Australia. She had had an incredibly successful corporate career. She explained to me that she was watching the royal commission and could see that change was happening, and that aged care was going to be improved. She decided to go back to study and become an aged-care worker because she wanted to give back to the community. She wanted to be part of a system that was really positive and she wanted to spend time with our oldest Australians, to give them the dignified retirement and conditions that they deserve. I think that this bill goes to addressing that. I commend the bill to the House.
