Labor says it has delivered a "down payment" to the Australian people after making aged care reform the first bill to pass the new parliament.
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And Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has insisted an exemption from prosecution for providers using restraints in aged care residences will only apply as a "last resort", amid outcry from human rights advocates.
Responding to a damning royal commission into the beleaguered sector, the Aged Care Amendment bill will establish a new funding model tailored to providers' individual needs from October.
The Health Department will publish star ratings for all aged care services by the end of the year to enable people to compare providers, with a new code of conduct for aged care workers to also come into effect from December.
Minister Wells described the bill as the government's "down payment" on its promises to the Australian people.
She said Labor was looking to pull all available levers to fill shortages in the sector - including pay rises, working conditions, and migration - saying its workers had been consistently undervalued.
"This is also a cultural issue ... We do not value care workers in our country enough, and until they feel that value, we're not going to get enough people into the sector," she said.
"Another reason that the passage of today's bill ... is so important is that aged care workers out there, both who are still in there and who have left, see that we value them and that we want them to come back."
Part of Labor's aged care package was a pledge to ensure 24/7 nurses operated in every Australian aged care home. It has been referred to a Senate inquiry for consultation with stakeholders.
But concerns have been raised over the new government's ability to make good on the promise, particularly in regional and remote areas, given an exodus from a sector already in the midst of a staffing crisis.
"People feel they were a bit out in the cold with the previous government in aged care, and we're doing our best to be really consultative and listen to people's concerns," she said.
"That is exactly why we've sent our election commitment reform bill off to Senate inquiry, so those kinds of things can be worked through.
"People want to see how it will be [done but] people also have suggestions about how we can do that."
The bill allows for aged care providers to apply for exemptions, which Minister Wells said were likely to only be granted in "thin markets" in regional and remote areas.
She warned migration was not a "silver bullet" to resolving the shortages.
"You would think that if there was a silver bullet for workforce shortages in aged care, you would hope to God that somebody in my job would have pulled it by now," she said.
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Labor extended the presence of Australian Defence Force personnel, first introduced by the Coalition in February, until September as the highly-infectious Omicron strain ripped through Australian aged care homes.
"I've got to get aged care through this winter, and then I've got to start the reform process so that we don't have winters like this again," Ms Wells said.
Human rights advocates have blasted a facet of the bill which can exempt providers from prosecution over the use of restraints, arguing it could breach torture conventions.
Restrictions were classified as physical or chemical means to restrict residents' movement.
Pressed on the issue in question time, Ms Wells stressed the measure was not a blanket immunity, but a "sunset clause" designed to carryover until a new age care act comes into force in July.
"The immunity will only apply where restrictive practices are used as a last resort, only to the extent that they are necessary for the shortest time possible and in the least restrictive form," she said.
"And crucially to prevent harm to the care recipient. It is a temporary measure."
Old Persons Advocacy Network manager of policy Samantha Edmonds said, by passing the "milestone" bill so early, Labor had shown "how important" the sector was to its agenda.
But Ms Edmonds stressed she hoped to see ongoing commitment to aged care reform.
"This is a fantastic first step and we'd like to see them continuing those steps, seeing the recommendations implemented, and change happening within the aged care sector," she said.