After Opposition Shadow Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Clare O’Neil (pictured right) said there were “no strings attached” to the Federal Government’s extra $10 per day per day to aged care providers, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt reiterated how the money would be monitored.
Ms O’Neil said the Federal Government needed to focus on the nutrition given to aged care residents.
“It’s obviously a human rights crisis in aged care that so many older Australians are starving, under the care of their own government,” she claimed.
Ms O’Neil, speaking on the ABC, accused the Government of not following the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care.
Mr Hunt did not hold back in his response the next morning, reiterating the Budget statements.
“I'm a little bit surprised that Labor hasn’t actually read the materials, which set out the fact very clearly that there has to be reporting on standards. And so, you cannot be paid unless you are reporting and meeting the standards in relation to the $10 a day uplift,” Mr Hunt said.
“It was a recommendation of the Royal Commission and it is being implemented in terms of the Royal Commission. I will read precisely the terms which the Commonwealth announced on Budget night: To commence receiving the new government basic daily fee supplement, that’s the $10 a day, providers will need to report on the adequacy of daily living services such as food, linen, and cleaning; they provide with a particular focus on nutrition.”
“This quality reporting will support the star system. So, if they don’t meet the standards, if they don’t do the reporting, they won’t be paid. That’s in black and white and it was there on Budget night. And one of those things where I think they forgot to read the materials,” he added.
