A-Z Index | Contact the Department | Search Advanced Search

Home > Ministers > The Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Mental Health Reform, Minister for Housing and Homelessness > Media Hub > Interview with Joe O'brien & Ita Buttrose

View by date:

• May
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December

• 2013
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004

Previous Ministers

PDF printable version of Interview with Joe O'brien & Ita Buttrose (PDF 229 KB)

Transcript
ABC News 24

22 APRIL 2013

Topics: Alzheimer's Disease International Award, dementia, federal budget, education

Joe O'Brien:
Alzheimer's International has chosen Australia's Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, as the winner of its annual award. The organisation says that since 2005, Australia has led the way worldwide in creating and implementing dementia policy. The award though comes at a time when there are significant pressures on the budget now and reductions in the growth of university funding, leading to questions about research. The Minister joined me earlier along with the President of Alzheimer's Australia, Ita Buttrose.
Minister and Ita Buttrose, welcome. This is significant international recognition. Why have you taken such a keen interest in Alzheimer's over the years?

Mark Butler:
Well for a couple of reasons. Firstly as we came to the challenge of building an aged care system for the future - really changing the system that's been largely in place for 30 years - I came increasingly to the view that the central challenge for the aged care system is dealing with dementia. At the same time, Alzheimer's Australia, of which Ita is President, really found its voice over the last the couple of years, put together a very effective campaign - the Fight Dementia campaign - which I think grabbed the attention of the public, certainly grabbed the attention of all members of Parliament across the aisle. Opposition and Government members started to talk to me about the interest their constituents were taking in building a better dementia response.

Joe O'Brien:
Ita Buttrose: Is Australia at the head of the pack when it comes to provision of services for people with Alzheimer's?

Ita Buttrose:
Yeah we're one of the world leaders. We've been engaged in the fight for a long time. That's not to say there's not room for improvement: we'd like to see better care packages; we think there needs to be more timely diagnosis - it takes three years for a diagnosis as a rule; we'd like hospitals to be safer; we'd like to improve primary care; we're looking for better support for younger onset dementia, you know, people with the disease at a younger age.

Joe O'Brien:
What about research as well?

Ita Buttrose:
Well that's our focus this year and that's what we're campaigning for and what we call the second stage of the campaign - trying to focus on the need for medical research. Because dementia is underfunded in Australia, and we've given the prevalence of the disease and the figures, we know that we need to find out more about why people get it, why it attacks the brain as it does. If we could slow this disease down by five years we could half the caseload, and that would be a lot less pressure on Government resources.

Joe O'Brien:
And then talking of funding, Wayne Swan yesterday said there was a $7.5 billion issue with the budget because of problems that had come up over the past six months or so. Can you give a guarantee that Alzheimer's services won't be affected, because presumably there's going to be pressure on the budget for years to come now.

Mark Butler:
We released a package last year that we worked very hard with Alzheimer's Australia on - about $270 million in new initiatives targeted at the areas that Ita just talked about: better diagnosis by GPs; better supports in the hospital system; better supports in the aged care system. And those initiatives are fully budgeted for and fully paid for and they're being delivered now. So I can give that guarantee. Yes, there is significant pressure on the budget in the short term as the Treasurer outlined yesterday, because of the impact particularly of the high dollar on the Federal Budget revenues. But these initiatives are terribly important initiatives for the Government and for the community and they will be delivered.

Joe O'Brien:
So when it comes to the May budget there won't be any surprises for people looking for Alzheimer's services in terms of reduced funding?

Ita Buttrose:
That was last year's budget - if I can interrupt - that was last year's budget. This year's budget we're looking for increased funding for dementia research. And that's what we'll be asking for. We're looking for $200 million over five years.

Joe O'Brien:
Well one of the issues that's come up over the last week is the cutback in the increase of university funding to provide for the Gonski reforms. Is that an issue which is going to affect funding for Alzheimer's research over the coming years?

Mark Butler:
Well no, I think these are moderate and sensible changes to the higher education funding arrangements that have seen very substantial increases over the last several years under this Government - about 50% increase in higher education funding. I don't think it will impact on the research effort that Ita is talking about. There is a substantial expansion in brain research, that obviously looks at dementia but other brain conditions as well and I think that will continue well into the future. I think brain research - as we've seen with President Obama's recent announcement - will be a very, very strong focus of our medical research sector over coming years.

Joe O'Brien:
Will you be looking for increased private funding for that research area?

Ita Buttrose:
Yes both. I don't think any organisation can expect the Government to be the only funder. We will be looking for support from the private sector. We already get some, but we'll be looking for more.

Joe O'Brien:
Isn't it tough in that sector right now?

Ita Buttrose:
It is. It's tough all the time when you're raising money, for whatever the cause is, but I don't think there's anyone in Australia - or very few people in Australia - who wouldn't know someone now, whose life has been touched by dementia - either in their own family or a friend. So the awareness is there and that makes people conscious of the fact that perhaps they do need to dip into their pocket and support research.

Joe O'Brien:
We know that Ita Buttrose has this personal connection with her father's struggle with the disease over the years. Minister this is - as I mentioned before - significant international recognition. Is your passion for this issue driven by a personal connection with it as well?

Mark Butler:
It's not driven by a personal connection, it's driven by a long understanding of the aged-care sector. I've been visiting aged care facilities for more than 20 years very, very regularly as part of different jobs that I've had. And as we toured the country talking to, largely, older Australians about their expectations and experiences of the aged care system, largely through some of the work in the forums that were organised by Alzheimer's Australia. I've spoken with family after family after family who felt terribly let down and often very distressed about the experiences they had of the hospital system, of the GP and primary care system, and of the aged care system. And that said to me that this wasn't just an aged care challenge, this was really a whole of health system challenge we have to deal with what I think will be one of the most significant challenges our health system has for the coming decades.

Joe O'Brien:
And Ita Buttrose, give us an idea of the challenge over the coming decades. How much bigger is this problem going to get?

Ita Buttrose:
Well there's about 320,000 Australians living with the disease now - that figure will double in less than 10 years. And without a breakthrough by about 2050 we'll have almost- we'll have over 900,000 people with the disease. And younger-onset dementia continues to increase as well. So, it's a huge challenge, and it's the main disease that all older Australians fear getting, and that's quite natural of course, we all worry about it.

Joe O'Brien:
And that's the award there right now?

Ita Buttrose:
This is from Alzheimer's Disease International to the Minister recognising the contribution that he's made in improving and supporting people with dementia. Minister, congratulations.

Joe O'Brien:
And there'll be some funding guarantees that come along with that?

Ita Buttrose:
No such thing as a thing as a free award Minister.

Joe O'Brien:
Ok, Ita Buttrose and Mark Butler, thanks for coming in.

Ita Buttrose:
Thank you.

Mark Butler:
Thank you very much.