Aged care reform first bill to pass lower house under Albanese government
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Version 0 of 1. Legislation enacting royal commission’s recommendations for sector expected to pass parliament despite opposition’s accusation of ‘playing politics’ The aged care sector has urged the new federal parliament to quickly pass delayed legislation enacting key recommendations of the royal commission, saying residents “can’t afford to wait any longer” for reforms around new funding, governance and conduct of staff. A bill legislating the royal commission’s recommendations was the first to pass the House of Representatives and expected to easily and rapidly pass through the parliament. The Labor government is also calling on the Coalition opposition to back some of its central election promises, including mandating nurses in aged care facilities on a 24/7 basis. “Every single member of parliament would have heard stories where aged care hasn’t met our expectations,” the aged care minister, Anika Wells, said on Wednesday. “The government is committed to improving transparency, integrity, and accountability in aged care.” Wells introduced two separate pieces of legislation into the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning: the aged care amendment (implementing care reform) bill, containing many of Labor’s election policies on the sector, and the aged care and other legislation amendment (royal commission response) bill. During the election we made a promise to Australians about aged care. Today I’ll talk about that promise, and how we will deliver on it. The work for aged care reform begins today. pic.twitter.com/T9IYxu9tvJ The first would mandate registered nurses be on-site at aged care homes on a 24/7 basis from July 2023, allow the government to cap administration fees on home care packages and require facilities publish spending figures on food, administration, nursing and profits. The second bill implements 14 recommendations of the royal commission on measures including new residential funding, a code of conduct for facility staff, an independent pricing authority, star ratings system and more oversight of providers and stronger governance. A similar bill was introduced by the former Coalition government, but was not passed. In question time on Wednesday, Wells criticised the former government for only implementing “nine of 148 recommendations of the royal commission.” “This new Labor government is not afraid of tackling the challenges before us,” she said. The royal commission bill passed the House of Representatives quickly on Wednesday, with Wells noting it was the very first legislation that passed under the Albanese government. Wells said the government was also taking action under a legislative instrument to mandate that all aged care residents would receive 200 minutes of care a day by October 2023, and 215 minutes a day by October 2024. She also confirmed that she and the health minister, Mark Butler, would make a submission to the Fair Work Commission case on aged care wages by 8 August. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Unions have called for a 25% pay rise. Wells on Tuesday stopped short of saying she would explicitly support that number, but said the government had “agreed to pay whatever the percentage is.” “We will advocate for all workers to be valued and for their pay to reflect that,” Wells said on Wednesday. She also noted that the 24/7 nurses provision would contain “exemptions” which would be laid out at a later date, after further consultation with the aged care sector. Some aged care providers had expressed concern about facilities in rural areas that may struggle to attract staff. The CEO of the Aged & Community Care Providers Association, Paul Sadler, praised the priority the new government had given to aged care bills, but called for more detail on the nursing exemptions. “ACCPA is keen that we take account of staff shortages in how we introduce 24/7 RNs [registered nurses] right across Australia, and the impact of home care pricing changes on consumers and service providers,” Sadler said. The Council on the Ageing called the reforms “crucial” and called on the royal commission bill to be passed through parliament this sitting fortnight. “It was very disappointing that this bill did not pass the last parliament, as it has led to delays in getting key reforms under way, but that is now water under the bridge” said the Council’s CEO, Ian Yates. The bills were also welcomed by the United Workers Union and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. The shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, signalled the opposition would back the royal commission bill but requested further information on Labor’s election promises before passing judgment. “The royal commission bill that Labor is introducing almost identically mirrors our legislation from the last parliament and directly relates to our response to the royal commission,” she told Guardian Australia. “[Prime minister Anthony] Albanese was happy to play politics with this important bill which has delayed the implementation of many important recommendations of the royal commission.” |