KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Joining me now is the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Sam Rae. Thanks for your time. The legislation around the aged care reforms went into the Senate last night. Where is that at, ahead of the overall reforms starting in November this year?
SAM RAE, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIORS: So Kieran, this is the supporting legislation. You’re right, it hit the Senate last night. I think it got about two minutes of a run towards the end of the Senate evening – it’ll be back in there again this week. But people might remember that in the last term of Parliament my predecessor, Anika Wells, who’s now the Minister for Communications, she did an extraordinary body of work. And I might say, she did it on a bipartisan basis. She did it with support from the Opposition and actually cooperation from the crossbench as well, and we passed the Aged Care Act, the new Aged Care Act, and this is the first time that the aged care legislation has been substantially updated since 1997. I was in Year 5 at Fadden Primary School back in 1997, so this is a serious piece of work that's gone on here. So the primary legislation was dealt with in the last Parliament. There was a lot of negotiation and discussion and agreement. Fundamentally, there was agreement on that. These are the supporting bills as we head towards the implementation of that new Act on 1 November. These are the supporting bills that help the sector, the workers, and ultimately make sure that we get the best possible care for older people.
GILBERT: You've been criticised – David Pocock's been on the program, others saying that you've delayed the increase in the number of Home Care Packages. They were meant to kick off on 1 July. They're now November, and those few months are critical for many people. They can't wait that long. What do you say to that?
RAE: So when I was made the Minister after the election, the first thing that I did and the thing that I took most seriously was to ensure that I did a lot of listening. I met with older people all across the country. I met with the sectors- the sector, rather, and providers within the sector. I met with workers and their representatives. And the overwhelming message that I got was that they wanted to see a brief deferral, from 1 July to 1 November of the new Aged Care Act- implementation of the Aged Care Act.
GILBERT: They weren't ready?
RAE: They weren’t ready.
GILBERT: Those in the sector, so the carers, organisations and so on?
RAE: This is very substantial reform. This is the first time that we've had a rights-based framework for older people ever in the history of Australia. And the Support at Home program, which is the new program, the significantly improved program that provides for in-home care for older people, is a very substantial change to the way that in-home care has previously been provided as well.
GILBERT: So they don't have the staff, or they don't have the staff that are sufficiently trained to roll that out? What's the problem?
RAE: I think there are issues around workforce. There were issues around the systems. There are issues around ensuring – and this is the most important part from my perspective – ensuring the continuity of care for older people in our community. And so for that reason, we made the decision, it was a difficult decision, for that brief deferral from 1 July to 1 November. But we did it on the advice of experts and older people, and that's been broadly welcomed.
Now, again, the support for the Aged Care Act and its updates has been pretty broad in terms of its political support. We've had support from the Opposition, and very constructive engagement from the Opposition and from the crossbench. Look, there's one or two politicians who are seeking to make some political mileage, but I'll just be really frank. By trying to politicise this issue, you do nothing to ensure that older people get a better quality of care. So people just need to get on board.
GILBERT: What if someone- just explain to me, if someone- a high needs person, someone where there's an emergency, they need home care now, do you have the capacity to expedite that care?
RAE: We are rolling out packages every single week. The average since September last year is 2700 packages a week.
GILBERT: So it hasn't dried up completely?
RAE: No. The average was 2700. Up until November, we'll continue to roll out on average above 2000 packages every single week. And people who are assessed as high priority, this is a clinical assessment, people who are assessed as high priority will continue to receive their packages within a month.
GILBERT: And just finally on the overall reform, if you have to, in a few words, describe what it's going to do, we all think about our loved ones, we want the best care for them. Does this future-proof aged care in this country?
RAE: Absolutely. This is the design and the implementation of an entirely new system. We saw the Royal Commission. We saw the harrowing stories that came out of it. This is about safety, it's about dignity and it's about high-quality care for every older Australian.
GILBERT: But I guess you've got to be vigilant about it as well, make sure that those standards are upheld across the board?
RAE: Absolutely. And we've got an ageing population, so demand on our aged care services will continue to grow. We want to make sure that we get more care and better care for every older person.
GILBERT: Sam Rae, Minister, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.
RAE: Thanks, Kieran.