❓ The Minister outlines the Cook Labor government's initiatives to improve aged care in WA, including advocating for federal funding, a low-interest loan scheme for infrastructure, and the 'Time to Think' program.
AnsweredQoN 394Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Health—Aged care
394. Ms Emily Hamilton to
the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to ensuring all Western Australians can access
the health care we need when we need it.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how we
are stepping up when it comes to aged care?
(2) Can the minister advise how we are helping
older Western Australians get the support they need to make important decisions
about their care as they age?
394. Ms Emily Hamilton to
the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to ensuring all Western Australians can access
the health care we need when we need it.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how we
are stepping up when it comes to aged care?
(2) Can the minister advise how we are helping
older Western Australians get the support they need to make important decisions
about their care as they age?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for Joondalup
for her question and also her advocacy on behalf of older Western Australians,
particularly in her electorate. Let us be clear that our government's top
priority is to ensure that all Western Australians have access to the health care
and the aged-care support they need when they need it. That is why the Cook
Labor government is stepping up to ensure that as a state, we get our share of
a stronger, fairer and more person-centred aged-care system. I was very pleased
to join the Premier and the Minister for Health to advocate to the federal government
the week before last. We secured a commitment from the Minister for Aged Care
and Seniors, Minister Sam Rae, to visit Western Australia following the current
parliamentary sitting period. I look forward to continuing those conversations
with the federal government, particularly through Minister Rae when he joins us
here in Perth. Following our visit, we were pleased that the federal government
brought forward 20,000 home care packages—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition.
Ms Simone McGurk: —from its previously
deferred system. We are pleased because that was one of the items that we had
been advocating for very firmly. We need home care packages. A round of home
care packages that were to be delivered on 1 July had been deferred. That has
been talked about quite a bit. We are pleased 20,000 of those packages have now
been brought forward. We do not know how many of those packages will be
delivered here in Western Australia, so we continue to make those points to the
federal government. That is why we have a dedicated Minister for Aged Care and
Seniors in Western Australia, not because we want to take the responsibility
for aged-care funding or regulation from the federal government. We certainly do
not want to do that. We want to make sure that our older Western Australians
are looked after. We want to make sure that they have a responsive system and
the sort of care that they need when they need it. If that includes advocating
to the federal government, that is exactly what we will do.
We are doing more
than that. We are stepping into providing more assistance than any other state
government has done before in the aged-care space. We have announced a $100 million
low interest loan scheme that will expand aged-care infrastructure to deliver
more beds in Western Australia. We have been clear, and I have said before in
this Parliament, that that might include bringing online beds in aged-care
facilities that are not currently being utilised, whether it means refurbishing
existing facilities or building new facilities. We want to target concession
beds. We want to target those cohorts that we know are under-represented in our
aged-care system at the moment. That is in addition to our $9.9 million nation-leading
initiative Time to Think, which is giving aged-care patients and their families,
as the name indicates, an opportunity to get the care support they need while
they figure out the next stage in their care journey, whether that is home
care, going home with the right sort of support or a residential aged-care
facility.
After we visited
Canberra, the next morning I joined the Premier and the Minister for Health
again at the Hall & Prior facility in High Wycombe. Previously a disability
facility, it has been repurposed to become a brand-new facility for aged care
and, in this case, four Time to Think beds. We met Margaret, who was at that
stage I think the first patient and was getting a lot of attention in the Hall
& Prior facility. It was great to talk to her about the sort of assistance she
had been given. She was really grateful for being able to come out of hospital
and, as I said, get that sort of care at a beautiful and relatively new
facility. It was looking fantastic. I thank the Hall & Prior facility leadership
and also its staff who hosted us there that morning. I should say that that
marked the 100th patient in our Time to Think program, which is fantastic. That
is actual people. That is hours and hours of hospital bed time that has been
freed up as a result of our Time to Think program.
We are putting $2.2 million
into our respite program, which has supported 700 long-stay hospital patients
since May 2023. This is about dignity, independence and choice. We also have
our culturally lead Transition Care Program in partnership with Aboriginal
community–controlled health services to support older Aboriginal people
leave hospital sooner in culturally appropriate care. I know that is really
important. I know that from my own electorate where Aboriginal people need to
feel comfortable with the institution into which they are going. We also have a
seamless system of hospital discharge through Co-HIVE and the WA virtual
emergency department for remote monitoring and home-based care to ensure older
Western Australians receive, again, the right care in the right place at the
right time.
I would like to
again thank the federal government for its engagement so far. Until we secure
at least, as a minimum, the proportion of home care packages or residential
aged care to the number of older Western Australians, we will not stop. We have
just over 10% of older Western Australians over 65 in our state; that is the
minimum of what we expect in our home-care system.
Several members
interjected.
Ms Simone McGurk: It is interesting when we are
speaking in the chamber—I am not sure that Hansard can really capture it—we get from
the other side just this low murmur of commentary that is not really saying
anything. It is just these little words and interjections. They do not have a
plan. I am not aware that they took any sort of seniors or aged-care policy to
the last election—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition!
Ms Simone McGurk: I am not aware if they did. I have
tried to find it but I could not find it. If there is one, I am interested to
know what exactly they took to the last election when it comes to the aged-care
system or looking after our seniors. As the Deputy Premier said, the Leader of
the Opposition has been a commentator for some time, and not a particularly
good one. That is demonstrated here in this Parliament. It is easy to
commentate. It is easy to throw in a little—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
Ms Simone McGurk: It
is easy to throw in a one-liner, but what are their solutions? It is easy to
throw in commentary and single-line observations, but exactly what is their
solution? Nothing. We get nothing from them, except from the cheap seats.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Ms Simone McGurk: As I said before, we are delivering
more than any other state government when it comes to aged care. For the first
time, we have a minister who is responsible to advocate to the federal
government, and that is exactly what we will do.
for her question and also her advocacy on behalf of older Western Australians,
particularly in her electorate. Let us be clear that our government's top
priority is to ensure that all Western Australians have access to the health care
and the aged-care support they need when they need it. That is why the Cook
Labor government is stepping up to ensure that as a state, we get our share of
a stronger, fairer and more person-centred aged-care system. I was very pleased
to join the Premier and the Minister for Health to advocate to the federal government
the week before last. We secured a commitment from the Minister for Aged Care
and Seniors, Minister Sam Rae, to visit Western Australia following the current
parliamentary sitting period. I look forward to continuing those conversations
with the federal government, particularly through Minister Rae when he joins us
here in Perth. Following our visit, we were pleased that the federal government
brought forward 20,000 home care packages—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition.
Ms Simone McGurk: —from its previously
deferred system. We are pleased because that was one of the items that we had
been advocating for very firmly. We need home care packages. A round of home
care packages that were to be delivered on 1 July had been deferred. That has
been talked about quite a bit. We are pleased 20,000 of those packages have now
been brought forward. We do not know how many of those packages will be
delivered here in Western Australia, so we continue to make those points to the
federal government. That is why we have a dedicated Minister for Aged Care and
Seniors in Western Australia, not because we want to take the responsibility
for aged-care funding or regulation from the federal government. We certainly do
not want to do that. We want to make sure that our older Western Australians
are looked after. We want to make sure that they have a responsive system and
the sort of care that they need when they need it. If that includes advocating
to the federal government, that is exactly what we will do.
We are doing more
than that. We are stepping into providing more assistance than any other state
government has done before in the aged-care space. We have announced a $100 million
low interest loan scheme that will expand aged-care infrastructure to deliver
more beds in Western Australia. We have been clear, and I have said before in
this Parliament, that that might include bringing online beds in aged-care
facilities that are not currently being utilised, whether it means refurbishing
existing facilities or building new facilities. We want to target concession
beds. We want to target those cohorts that we know are under-represented in our
aged-care system at the moment. That is in addition to our $9.9 million nation-leading
initiative Time to Think, which is giving aged-care patients and their families,
as the name indicates, an opportunity to get the care support they need while
they figure out the next stage in their care journey, whether that is home
care, going home with the right sort of support or a residential aged-care
facility.
After we visited
Canberra, the next morning I joined the Premier and the Minister for Health
again at the Hall & Prior facility in High Wycombe. Previously a disability
facility, it has been repurposed to become a brand-new facility for aged care
and, in this case, four Time to Think beds. We met Margaret, who was at that
stage I think the first patient and was getting a lot of attention in the Hall
& Prior facility. It was great to talk to her about the sort of assistance she
had been given. She was really grateful for being able to come out of hospital
and, as I said, get that sort of care at a beautiful and relatively new
facility. It was looking fantastic. I thank the Hall & Prior facility leadership
and also its staff who hosted us there that morning. I should say that that
marked the 100th patient in our Time to Think program, which is fantastic. That
is actual people. That is hours and hours of hospital bed time that has been
freed up as a result of our Time to Think program.
We are putting $2.2 million
into our respite program, which has supported 700 long-stay hospital patients
since May 2023. This is about dignity, independence and choice. We also have
our culturally lead Transition Care Program in partnership with Aboriginal
community–controlled health services to support older Aboriginal people
leave hospital sooner in culturally appropriate care. I know that is really
important. I know that from my own electorate where Aboriginal people need to
feel comfortable with the institution into which they are going. We also have a
seamless system of hospital discharge through Co-HIVE and the WA virtual
emergency department for remote monitoring and home-based care to ensure older
Western Australians receive, again, the right care in the right place at the
right time.
I would like to
again thank the federal government for its engagement so far. Until we secure
at least, as a minimum, the proportion of home care packages or residential
aged care to the number of older Western Australians, we will not stop. We have
just over 10% of older Western Australians over 65 in our state; that is the
minimum of what we expect in our home-care system.
Several members
interjected.
Ms Simone McGurk: It is interesting when we are
speaking in the chamber—I am not sure that Hansard can really capture it—we get from
the other side just this low murmur of commentary that is not really saying
anything. It is just these little words and interjections. They do not have a
plan. I am not aware that they took any sort of seniors or aged-care policy to
the last election—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition!
Ms Simone McGurk: I am not aware if they did. I have
tried to find it but I could not find it. If there is one, I am interested to
know what exactly they took to the last election when it comes to the aged-care
system or looking after our seniors. As the Deputy Premier said, the Leader of
the Opposition has been a commentator for some time, and not a particularly
good one. That is demonstrated here in this Parliament. It is easy to
commentate. It is easy to throw in a little—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
Ms Simone McGurk: It
is easy to throw in a one-liner, but what are their solutions? It is easy to
throw in commentary and single-line observations, but exactly what is their
solution? Nothing. We get nothing from them, except from the cheap seats.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Ms Simone McGurk: As I said before, we are delivering
more than any other state government when it comes to aged care. For the first
time, we have a minister who is responsible to advocate to the federal
government, and that is exactly what we will do.
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