Aged-Care Funding

Mr DULUK (Waite) (14:41): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the Attorney-General update the house on how the federal government's $1.6 billion aged-care sector package will help improve standards in South Australian aged care?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (14:41): Thank you to the member. I know he is a long way off needing these aged-care packages, but the $1.6 billion—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —that was announced the other night by the commonwealth government is welcome news for South Australia. It is very important to recognise the serious areas of neglect and inaction by the former state Labor government in this space. But the money is on the table. Some of the initiatives that are proposed include $22 million of that over the next five years to establish and trial the hubs for older persons. I think the new word is growing 'elder' hubs, not 'older persons' but, in any event, language changes all the time in this space. Obviously, it is to locate in centres the services to support our growing number of older persons.

The success really follows this type of area in relation to domestic violence, which, over a number of years, has been developed and enables women particularly, and sometimes children, to be able to seek support and protection in these areas. Aged members of our community who may become more vulnerable, particularly as they become more frail, significantly need assistance, and to have this through the package is particularly important. The circumstances relating to the Oakden scandal obviously bring front and centre to us the importance of offering protection in this regard.

One of the other areas in relation to care relates to the financial abuse of our older South Australians. This is an important area, which had actually been identified by the member for Cheltenham when he was a minister. He published a nice pamphlet about it and then, frankly, did not much else since to actually address it. He highlighted in that pamphlet—now 12 years ago—the significance of ensuring that we protect older persons, who may actually be living independently or in their own homes, who are not in some kind of institutional or regulated service or residential facility, but who are very vulnerable in these circumstances.

Enduring powers of attorney is one way of assisting persons as they mature in age, particularly if they are losing decision-making ability, to pre-empt that and to ensure that they have the chance to instruct and authorise someone to conduct their affairs on their behalf. The national funds will assist in the development of the establishment of a national framework for enduring powers of attorney. This is particularly important for South Australia.

The previous government—indeed, even back as far as the Hon. Martyn Evans, who was a former minister for health in the Bannon administration—undertook a review in relation to documents of instruction, including what culminated into advance care directives in this house. When I first came into parliament, I remember meeting with Mr Evans, reading his report and looking forward to there being some development in this area.

Apart from the advance care directives, which started under minister Hill and finished under minister Snelling, or at least were amended under his regime, the fact is that again the government have completely left this space unattended. So we continue to have a situation where our older South Australians don't have the reforms they need to access enduring powers of attorney in a simplified form, which is the original objective, and now we are going to look to work at the national level for that protection.

Time expired.