Independents unite to demand home support for 20,000 after aged care delay
In their first flex of group political muscle since the federal election, Australia's independent MPs have teamed up to call on the government to fund - within weeks - at least 20,000 extra aged care home support packages.
The government announced in early June it was delaying by five months big changes to aged care, which had been due to start mid-year, to give service providers more time to prepare.
But 10 crossbenchers have teamed up to express concern about the impact of the postponement on the nearly 83,000 elderly Australians on the waiting list for home care.
"Research shows that the longer people go without appropriate home care supports, the higher their risk of injury or hospitalisation," the MPs said in a June 10 letter to Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae.
"This delay will also imperil your government's commitment that by 2027 no one will wait more than 90 days for a package.
"On behalf of people in our communities, we are calling on the Albanese government to, at a minimum, fund 20,000 new packages to commence on 1 July 2025 under the current home care packages scheme, which can then be rolled over onto the new support at home program when it eventually commences," the letter reads.
The call for bridging support to cover the delay is supported by both Council on the Ageing (COTA) and the Older Persons Advocacy Network.
"I regularly have families contacting me about the excessively long wait times for home care packages," ACT independent senator David Pocock said.
"We can't afford to delay this further."
Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi in north-east Victoria, said waiting times were lengthened by a lack of qualified people to provide care in regional areas.
"We also can't delay the rollout of a pricing framework that fairly reflects the travel costs to deliver care in rural areas," she said.
Any setback for older people who wanted to stay at home was "unacceptable", Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said.
"Both sides of politics have dropped the ball on this issue over the last ten years," she said.
"What the minister calls 'a brief deferral' will directly impact the lives of older Australians."
Sydney-based Allegra Spender said she had heard "heartbreaking" stories of elderly people forced into nursing homes due to the long wait for assistance at home, while Dr Monique Ryan in Melbourne said "older Australians shouldn't suffer because of the aged care system's failures".
Andrew Gee, the newly re-elected independent MP for Calare in NSW, also put his name to the letter in a sign the former National - who quit the party over its opposition to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament - will work with the so-called teals in this parliament.
The other signatories were Sydney's Dr Sophie Scamps and Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie from Tasmania, and Kate Chaney from Western Australia.
Given Labor's thumping majority win at the May election, the independents will have less sway in this parliament, but the letter is the first indication they will nonetheless use their numbers to lobby together.
Home care packages are a form of commonwealth assistance designed to help people aged 65 and over to stay at home longer by providing assistance with household tasks, personal care and some medical care, such as that provided by nurses.
The government has pledged to switch to a $5.6 billion "support at home" system, promising to be "the greatest improvement to aged care in 30 years" designed to slash waiting lists.
The health minister's office has been contacted for comment.
In their first flex of group political muscle since the federal election, Australia's independent MPs have teamed up to call on the government to fund - within weeks - at least 20,000 extra aged care home support packages.
The government announced in early June it was delaying by five months big changes to aged care, which had been due to start mid-year, to give service providers more time to prepare.
But 10 crossbenchers have teamed up to express concern about the impact of the postponement on the nearly 83,000 elderly Australians on the waiting list for home care.
"Research shows that the longer people go without appropriate home care supports, the higher their risk of injury or hospitalisation," the MPs said in a June 10 letter to Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae.
"This delay will also imperil your government's commitment that by 2027 no one will wait more than 90 days for a package.
"On behalf of people in our communities, we are calling on the Albanese government to, at a minimum, fund 20,000 new packages to commence on 1 July 2025 under the current home care packages scheme, which can then be rolled over onto the new support at home program when it eventually commences," the letter reads.
The call for bridging support to cover the delay is supported by both Council on the Ageing (COTA) and the Older Persons Advocacy Network.
"I regularly have families contacting me about the excessively long wait times for home care packages," ACT independent senator David Pocock said.
"We can't afford to delay this further."
Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi in north-east Victoria, said waiting times were lengthened by a lack of qualified people to provide care in regional areas.
"We also can't delay the rollout of a pricing framework that fairly reflects the travel costs to deliver care in rural areas," she said.
Any setback for older people who wanted to stay at home was "unacceptable", Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said.
"Both sides of politics have dropped the ball on this issue over the last ten years," she said.
"What the minister calls 'a brief deferral' will directly impact the lives of older Australians."
Sydney-based Allegra Spender said she had heard "heartbreaking" stories of elderly people forced into nursing homes due to the long wait for assistance at home, while Dr Monique Ryan in Melbourne said "older Australians shouldn't suffer because of the aged care system's failures".
Andrew Gee, the newly re-elected independent MP for Calare in NSW, also put his name to the letter in a sign the former National - who quit the party over its opposition to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament - will work with the so-called teals in this parliament.
The other signatories were Sydney's Dr Sophie Scamps and Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie from Tasmania, and Kate Chaney from Western Australia.
Given Labor's thumping majority win at the May election, the independents will have less sway in this parliament, but the letter is the first indication they will nonetheless use their numbers to lobby together.
Home care packages are a form of commonwealth assistance designed to help people aged 65 and over to stay at home longer by providing assistance with household tasks, personal care and some medical care, such as that provided by nurses.
The government has pledged to switch to a $5.6 billion "support at home" system, promising to be "the greatest improvement to aged care in 30 years" designed to slash waiting lists.
The health minister's office has been contacted for comment.
In their first flex of group political muscle since the federal election, Australia's independent MPs have teamed up to call on the government to fund - within weeks - at least 20,000 extra aged care home support packages.
The government announced in early June it was delaying by five months big changes to aged care, which had been due to start mid-year, to give service providers more time to prepare.
But 10 crossbenchers have teamed up to express concern about the impact of the postponement on the nearly 83,000 elderly Australians on the waiting list for home care.
"Research shows that the longer people go without appropriate home care supports, the higher their risk of injury or hospitalisation," the MPs said in a June 10 letter to Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae.
"This delay will also imperil your government's commitment that by 2027 no one will wait more than 90 days for a package.
"On behalf of people in our communities, we are calling on the Albanese government to, at a minimum, fund 20,000 new packages to commence on 1 July 2025 under the current home care packages scheme, which can then be rolled over onto the new support at home program when it eventually commences," the letter reads.
The call for bridging support to cover the delay is supported by both Council on the Ageing (COTA) and the Older Persons Advocacy Network.
"I regularly have families contacting me about the excessively long wait times for home care packages," ACT independent senator David Pocock said.
"We can't afford to delay this further."
Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi in north-east Victoria, said waiting times were lengthened by a lack of qualified people to provide care in regional areas.
"We also can't delay the rollout of a pricing framework that fairly reflects the travel costs to deliver care in rural areas," she said.
Any setback for older people who wanted to stay at home was "unacceptable", Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said.
"Both sides of politics have dropped the ball on this issue over the last ten years," she said.
"What the minister calls 'a brief deferral' will directly impact the lives of older Australians."
Sydney-based Allegra Spender said she had heard "heartbreaking" stories of elderly people forced into nursing homes due to the long wait for assistance at home, while Dr Monique Ryan in Melbourne said "older Australians shouldn't suffer because of the aged care system's failures".
Andrew Gee, the newly re-elected independent MP for Calare in NSW, also put his name to the letter in a sign the former National - who quit the party over its opposition to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament - will work with the so-called teals in this parliament.
The other signatories were Sydney's Dr Sophie Scamps and Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie from Tasmania, and Kate Chaney from Western Australia.
Given Labor's thumping majority win at the May election, the independents will have less sway in this parliament, but the letter is the first indication they will nonetheless use their numbers to lobby together.
Home care packages are a form of commonwealth assistance designed to help people aged 65 and over to stay at home longer by providing assistance with household tasks, personal care and some medical care, such as that provided by nurses.
The government has pledged to switch to a $5.6 billion "support at home" system, promising to be "the greatest improvement to aged care in 30 years" designed to slash waiting lists.
The health minister's office has been contacted for comment.
In their first flex of group political muscle since the federal election, Australia's independent MPs have teamed up to call on the government to fund - within weeks - at least 20,000 extra aged care home support packages.
The government announced in early June it was delaying by five months big changes to aged care, which had been due to start mid-year, to give service providers more time to prepare.
But 10 crossbenchers have teamed up to express concern about the impact of the postponement on the nearly 83,000 elderly Australians on the waiting list for home care.
"Research shows that the longer people go without appropriate home care supports, the higher their risk of injury or hospitalisation," the MPs said in a June 10 letter to Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae.
"This delay will also imperil your government's commitment that by 2027 no one will wait more than 90 days for a package.
"On behalf of people in our communities, we are calling on the Albanese government to, at a minimum, fund 20,000 new packages to commence on 1 July 2025 under the current home care packages scheme, which can then be rolled over onto the new support at home program when it eventually commences," the letter reads.
The call for bridging support to cover the delay is supported by both Council on the Ageing (COTA) and the Older Persons Advocacy Network.
"I regularly have families contacting me about the excessively long wait times for home care packages," ACT independent senator David Pocock said.
"We can't afford to delay this further."
Dr Helen Haines, the member for Indi in north-east Victoria, said waiting times were lengthened by a lack of qualified people to provide care in regional areas.
"We also can't delay the rollout of a pricing framework that fairly reflects the travel costs to deliver care in rural areas," she said.
Any setback for older people who wanted to stay at home was "unacceptable", Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said.
"Both sides of politics have dropped the ball on this issue over the last ten years," she said.
"What the minister calls 'a brief deferral' will directly impact the lives of older Australians."
Sydney-based Allegra Spender said she had heard "heartbreaking" stories of elderly people forced into nursing homes due to the long wait for assistance at home, while Dr Monique Ryan in Melbourne said "older Australians shouldn't suffer because of the aged care system's failures".
Andrew Gee, the newly re-elected independent MP for Calare in NSW, also put his name to the letter in a sign the former National - who quit the party over its opposition to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament - will work with the so-called teals in this parliament.
The other signatories were Sydney's Dr Sophie Scamps and Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie from Tasmania, and Kate Chaney from Western Australia.
Given Labor's thumping majority win at the May election, the independents will have less sway in this parliament, but the letter is the first indication they will nonetheless use their numbers to lobby together.
Home care packages are a form of commonwealth assistance designed to help people aged 65 and over to stay at home longer by providing assistance with household tasks, personal care and some medical care, such as that provided by nurses.
The government has pledged to switch to a $5.6 billion "support at home" system, promising to be "the greatest improvement to aged care in 30 years" designed to slash waiting lists.
The health minister's office has been contacted for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
'Partial tick': coalition cautious on PM's summit idea
The federal opposition has given the government a partial tick over its upcoming productivity summit, saying that at least Labor recognises there is a problem. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the plan on Tuesday, saying the gathering of business, union and other leaders in Canberra in August would focus on ways to lift economic output. "A round table. Yay!" shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien joked during an interview on Nine's Today program on Wednesday. "But look ... to be fair, at least they're recognising the problem ... so let's take that as a partial tick." Experts are concerned about Australia's lagging rate of productivity - a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism that previous federal government economic summits were too slanted, Mr Albanese said this roundtable would be broad-based. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Meanwhile, the World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3 per cent. The downgrade was driven by higher US tariffs on foreign imports and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. The World Bank is the latest body to cut its growth forecast as a result of President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies. But it stopped short of forecasting a recession, despite predicting global economic growth this year would be the weakest outside of a recession since 2008. with Reuters
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
'Partial tick': coalition cautious on PM's summit idea
The federal opposition has given the government a partial tick over its upcoming productivity summit, saying that at least Labor recognises there is a problem. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the plan on Tuesday, saying the gathering of business, union and other leaders in Canberra in August would focus on ways to lift economic output. "A round table. Yay!" shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien joked during an interview on Nine's Today program on Wednesday. "But look ... to be fair, at least they're recognising the problem ... so let's take that as a partial tick." Experts are concerned about Australia's lagging rate of productivity - a key economic measure of efficiency and long-term driver of improved living standards. Despite criticism that previous federal government economic summits were too slanted, Mr Albanese said this roundtable would be broad-based. He called for a mature discussion from all parties, noting it was in everyone's interest for productivity to improve. "We're a Labor government, we support unions existing ... but we will always respect both the role of business and the role of unions," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday. "There are common interests ... you don't get union members unless you've got successful employers. "It's the private sector that drives an economy. What the public sector should do is facilitate private sector activity and private sector investment." The Productivity Commissioner's most recent report showed labour productivity fell 0.1 per cent in the December quarter and dropped 1.2 per cent in the past year. The Business Council of Australia says productivity growth over the past decade has been the lowest in 60 years. Council chief executive Bran Black welcomed the roundtable, saying "lifting business investment is essential to boosting productivity, lifting real wages, creating jobs and ensuring more opportunity for more Australians". "We will continue to be very clear about policies that the business community believes will be counterproductive to improving productivity," he said. Mr Albanese said he wanted a boost to productivity, alongside other economic indicators as part of his second-term agenda. "We want to build an economy where growth, wages and productivity rise together," he said. ACTU secretary Sally McManus said working Australians must be at the centre of the roundtable. "We need to leave behind the idea that productivity is equated with cutting pay and making people work harder for less," she said. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said boosting productivity was essential for economic growth. "The business community looks forward to participating in the summit and contributing constructive and sensible ideas to address the problem," he said. Meanwhile, the World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3 per cent. The downgrade was driven by higher US tariffs on foreign imports and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. The World Bank is the latest body to cut its growth forecast as a result of President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies. But it stopped short of forecasting a recession, despite predicting global economic growth this year would be the weakest outside of a recession since 2008. with Reuters
7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Australia imposes sanctions on hardline Israeli ministers
The foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom have announced sanctions and other measures targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. It is a major foreign policy move by the Albanese government that puts Australia at odds with the United States. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australia sanctions Israeli ministers. Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Itamar Ben-Gvir (Israel 's security minister) and Bezalel Smotrich (Israel's finance minister) have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. The pair have also agitated for continuing fighting in Gaza and the return of Jewish settlement in the strip. 'Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous,' Wong said in a statement. 'These actions are not acceptable. We have engaged the Israeli government on this issue extensively, yet violent perpetrators continue to act with encouragement and impunity. 'This is why we have taken this action now – to hold those responsible to account. The Israeli Government must uphold its obligations under international law and we call on it to take meaningful action to end extremist, violent and expansionist rhetoric. 'The measures announced today do not deviate from our unwavering support for Israel's security and we continue to condemn the horrific terror attacks of 7 October by Hamas. 'Today's measures are targeted towards individuals who in our view undermine Israel's own security and its standing in the world. 'We continue to want a strong friendship with the people of Israel based on our shared ties, values and commitment to their security and future.' Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar say his nation is threatening to retaliate against the sanctions. 'It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to this kind of measures,' he said. 'I discussed it earlier today with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and we will hold a special government meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision.'
