Aged-Care Funding

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:23): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on the impact of the federal budget on aged-care sector services?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:23): I thank the honourable member for his question. The Turnbull government yesterday announced, as part of the federal budget, an investment of $1.6 billion in Australian aged care. This is good news for South Australia. We all know the consequences of a lack of investment in the aged-care sector. The Liberal federal government, together with the Liberal state government, is making protection of the elderly and the vulnerable a priority.

I welcome a particular aspect of the federal announcement, which is particularly relevant to South Australia in the aftermath of Oakden. Directly as a consequence of Oakden and the reports that were done at both the state and federal level, the commonwealth government has introduced new standards of accountability and transparency. In particular, they have announced the establishment of an aged-care quality and safety commission. It was my pleasure to join the federal Minister for Aged Care, the Hon. Ken Wyatt, at Leabrook on 18 April and be able to continue to engage with him on issues relating to aged care and services for both Australians and South Australians.

I think the commission will be a very valuable initiative in terms of both strengthening the quality of accreditation and oversight and restoring public confidence in aged-care services. The commission will begin on 1 January 2019 and will replace what I regard as fairly complex arrangements between the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency, the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner and the aged-care regulatory functions of the Department of Health. A new chief clinical adviser will provide guidance and advice to the commission, particularly on complex clinical matters. These changes will strengthen transparency and accountability.

We also welcome the investment of $22 million over five years to support the development of a national plan to address elder abuse. This parliament, in a multipartisan way, expressed its concern about elder abuse in the last parliament with the establishment of the Joint Select Committee on Elder Abuse, chaired by the member for Hurtle Vale and a former member of this place, the Hon. Kelly Vincent. The $22 million investment over five years at the national level to develop a plan to address elder abuse, I hope, will reinforce efforts at the state level also.

In another element of the federal budget, there is the announcement of an investment of 14,000 new high-level home care packages, 13,500 residential aged-care places and 775 short-term restorative care places. This investment is very important for South Australia in the context of our hospitals. There are far too many South Australians languishing in our hospitals waiting for an appropriate placement in aged-care services. I am delighted that the federal government is making this investment and I hope that it has the consequence of not only providing better services for older South Australians but also helping us to focus our healthcare services on those who actually need medical care at the time.

I also acknowledge the $60 million investment in capital investment in aged-are services and hope that, in the rollout of these investments, the South Australian government and the commonwealth government can work together to deliver increased services. Obviously, the Marshall Liberal government is so concerned about residential aged-care places that we have committed to a new 24-bed nursing home at Strathalbyn, and we hope that we can work with the commonwealth to deliver real investment for services to meet the needs of older South Australians moving forward.