Category: Australian News

The Morrison Government’s changes to local content rules is a missed opportunity to support Australian stories and local jobs, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Communications, Media and Arts, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Government has failed to deliver real reform today and has let the global steaming giants off the hook. This is a decision that if not corrected will cost local jobs and undermine Australia’s creative and cultural heritage.
“The Government’s reforms to local content quotas must result in more quality Australian stories on our screens, not less. This will only happen if the global streaming giants are regulated properly.
“Without legal requirements on the global giants, our screens and children’s devices will become even more clogged with trashy, cheap shows from America. Our Aussie kids deserve better than this.
“It’s time to ensure the big streaming giants like Netflix, Disney and Amazon who are flooding the domestic market contribute to Australia’s local screen industry, jobs and telling local stories.
“Local stories are important for helping us understand who we are as Australians, what values we share, our cultural heritage and where we see ourselves in the rest of the world.
“For our kids, locally made shows are important for them to see their own worlds reflected back at them, not just cartoon characters eating chilli dogs and speaking in American accents.
“From Bananas in Pyjamas to the legendary Round the Twist, high quality Australian made children’s television has always played an important role in shaping young hearts and minds in this country.
“The Greens will fight for local content requirements on streaming services to be legislated.
“Research shows two thirds of Australians support laws requiring streaming services like Netflix and Amazon to show and fund locally made shows and films – this was a no brainer and the Morrison Government has missed it.”

The Morrison Government’s announcement today of $61.7m to ‘boost local tourism and preserve our environment’ is a drop in the ocean of what’s needed for a green recovery, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for the Environment and Tourism Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Australians want our environment protected more than ever. There is a win-win opportunity here, but again the Morrison Government has missed the mark.
“Our special nature spots and the green tourism industry needs real investment, not just the crumbs left over after the Coalition has given the bulk of support to the fossil fuel lobby. This announcement is an insult to the thousands of small businesses that rely on our beautiful beaches, forests and parks being protected and cared for.
“There are more jobs to be created in restoring and protecting our environment than wrecking it. Yet, this Government is putting more money into trashing things than caring for nature. With millions of people out of work, investing in a Green Recovery would be good for local jobs, good for our tourism and good for the environment.
“I visited Kangaroo Island this week, which was ravaged by fire over the summer, and it was very clear so much more is needed to restore the natural environment the premier tourist destination is known for. This announcement isn’t going to cut it for the bushfire hit areas or other tourism destinations where our pristine natural world is the main attraction.”
Greens Spokesperson for Oceans Peter Whish-Wilson said:
“$20 million dollars for our declining reefs is a drop in the ocean.
“It shows just how out of touch the Government really is that with everything we know about the declining health of our oceans, it is committing so little.
“Artificial reefs and an aquarium are Band-Aid solutions to an emergency.
“We need definitive action on climate change and our warming oceans.
“I want my grandchildren to see our marine life at the beach, not behind a glass window.”

On this 30^th anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons, the Australian Government welcomes the COVID-19 report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which has been tabled in the Australian Parliament today.
The Royal Commission’s report tells us the COVID-19 pandemic has been the greatest challenge Australia’s aged care sector has faced and makes six recommendations to better prepare the aged care sector, its staff and residents for any future outbreaks.
The Government accepts all six recommendations in the report and has already made substantial progress on four of them.
The recommendations build on the Government’s existing COVID-19 measures.
The Government will invest $40.6 million in our initial response to the Royal Commission’s report and recommendations.
It has been continuously building and adapting the National Response Plan for COVID-19 in aged care since January 2020, with the aged care sector and with state and territory governments and health authorities, incorporating lessons learned from Australia and other countries.
We have invested more than $1.6 billion to support senior Australians in aged care since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The investment includes an additional $734.8 million announced in August to extend support for the sector’s response to the pandemic as part of the aged care response plan.
Wherever there are high rates of community transmission, the risk to older people and particularly those in residential aged care increases as demonstrated in Victoria.

Recommendations:

Recommendation 1

The Government accepts the recommendation.
It will report to Parliament by no later than 1 December 2020 on the implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.

Recommendation 2

The Government accepts the recommendation.
The Government has announced two packages to provide additional funding for staffing which supports visitations to aged care facilities by families and friends of residents.
In August, the Government committed an additional $245 million to support providers with COVID-19 related costs, including supporting communication with families and managing visitation arrangements, building on the first payment of the COVID supplement of $205 million announced in May.
The Government is also providing $12.5 million to support residents and their families with enhanced advocacy services and increased availability of grief and trauma services associated with a COVID-19 outbreak.
In addition, the Government will bring forward the introduction of the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) and invest an additional $29.8 million in the SIRS for residential aged care.
Legislation to support SIRS will be introduced to parliament in the spring sitting for the scheme to commence in early 2021.
This builds on earlier investments totalling $26.3 million to establish the system for reporting abuse or serious incidents in aged care facilities.
As part of the SIRS, residential aged care providers will be required to manage all incidents, with a focus on the safety and wellbeing of consumers and reducing preventable incidents from reoccurring.
Reporting under the SIRS will include a broader range of incidents, including neglect, psychological and emotional abuse and inappropriate use of physical or chemical restraint.
Significantly, the SIRS will also lift the current exemption on the reporting of resident-on‑resident incidents, where the perpetrator has an assessed cognitive impairment.
As the Royal Commission Interim Report states: “Informal carers, often family members who supplement the care provided in aged care homes, also play a critical role as the ‘eyes and ears’ – monitoring the quality of care their loved ones receive.”
The SIRS will provide an additional level of assurance when facilities, due to COVID-19, will still need to place a level of restrictions on visitations.

Recommendation 3

The Government accepts the recommendation.
While the Government has introduced a range of measures to support the mental health of residents of aged care facilities, it will continue to implement further measures.
The Government will provide additional funding to support increased access by residents to allied health services during the pandemic and will work with the sector to design and implement these measures.

Recommendation 4

The Government accepts the recommendation.
The Government has a specific national plan for aged care – the CDNA Guidelines for the Management of Outbreaks in Residential Care, which has been updated on two occasions, and which augments the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (COVID‑19).
The national plan for aged care will continue to be updated incorporating the latest available information and released soon as Stage 7 of the National COVID-19 Aged Care Plan for the consideration by National Cabinet.
The Aged Care Advisory Group, established on 21 August 2020 under the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), will be made permanent.
The other elements of this recommendation have already been undertaken or are in progress and will also be put to National Cabinet for consideration.

Recommendation 5

The Government accepts the recommendation.
Funding totalling $245 million will be paid to providers from October 2020 to support
COVID-19 efforts.
It will mandate that aged care providers have trained infection control officers as detailed in this recommendation.
In addition, the Government today announces it will invest a further $10.8 million to enhance the skills and leadership qualities of aged care nurses to ensure older Australians receive the best care possible.
This investment will expand the Australian College of Nursing scholarship program, establish an Aged Care Transition to Practice Program, and create a skills development program for nurses and personal care workers in aged care.

Recommendation 6

The Government accepts the recommendation.
The Government has been working with state and territory governments to implement a decision of National Cabinet of 21 August to implement additional face-to-face infection control training and establish joint approaches to the management of outbreaks.
The Government thanks Australia’s frontline aged care workers and Commonwealth, state and territory public health officials. We are deeply aware of the tragic losses that followed the global pandemic and community transmission.
Every life lost to the pandemic is a tragedy.
But the collective efforts of our health workers and health officials and our COVID-19 Aged Care Plan have helped save thousands of lives and placed Australia at the forefront of the global response to COVID-19.
The Government’s actions to protect aged care have been and continue to be based on four key pillars:

Minimise Community Transmission

Controlling community transmission is the best defence we have in protecting vulnerable older Australians in aged care. Under the auspices of the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) action is being taken by the Commonwealth, states and territories to minimise community transmission including through:

• Minimising the spread of the disease into and across Australia including through quarantine arrangements and effective contact tracing and tracking
• Preparing the health system for increased numbers of patients
• Managing COVID‑19 cases
• Improving understanding of the virus and how it is transmitted
• Provision of information to help manage the risk of exposure and reduce spread
• Vaccination – consideration of the aged care sector in a potential COVID-19 vaccine program

Surge workforce

The Government is providing critical surge workforce support to residential aged care facilities impacted by a COVID-19 outbreak. To date, more than 33,000 shifts have been filled by a Commonwealth-funded surge workforce including GPs, nurses, care workers, allied health workers, executive and ancillary staff.
The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre (VACRC), a joint initiative of the Commonwealth and Victorian Government, was established on 25 July 2020 to co-ordinate and expand resources to tackle the challenge of COVID-19 in residential aged care services.
Under the direction of the VACRC, clinical health staff provided through health services are also assisting to fill critical workforce shortages in residential aged care facilities, with 4,778 shifts filled to date. The VACRC has also assisted the aged care response to COVID-19 through the following activities:

• Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel have visited 592 aged care facilities.
• 40 personnel from AUSMAT have completed 174 visits to 80 facilities.
• Western Health has provided assistance in prevention measures at 37 aged care facilities.
• 12 National Aged Care Emergency Response (NACER) teams, 76 personnel have been deployed to fill roles across the sector, including nursing, personal care, and cleaning.
• Deployment of TAS, WA, and SA government teams to support operations in residential aged care facilities.
• 101 Residential Aged Care Assistants and Safety Observers have been deployed by the Response Centre to 24 facilities.
• Regular Zoom meetings are being conducted with staff at aged care facilities to assist with return to work arrangements.

Public and private hospitals agreement

These historic agreements between the Commonwealth and each state and territory government alongside the private hospital sector, has ensured the full resources of Australia’s world class health system could be directed to the care of those who needed it.  The $1.7 billion private hospital agreement has been instrumental in enabling more than 500 aged care residents to be transferred to private hospitals during the current Victorian second wave.
In addition, it has supported the in-reach of services from hospitals to aged care facilities to provide further clinical care.
Since February 2020, the Government has been working with the states and territories to ensure aged care facilities have sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment. To date, the National Medical Stockpile has provided aged care facilities with approximately:

• 17 million masks
• 4 million gowns
• 11 million gloves
• 4 million goggles and face shields
• 85,000 bottles of hand sanitiser
• 160,000 clinical waste bags.

Universal testing of staff and residents

Immediate testing is provided to staff and residents in a facility to seek to minimise a potential outbreak.  Through this in-reach program, more than 152,000 tests at more than 11,000 site visits to 2,000 aged care facilities across Australia have been undertaken.  The Government has also provided Medicare funded bulk-billed testing for aged care workers, including those who are asymptomatic.  As Victoria starts to recover, this testing will be bolstered to safeguard against a risk of further outbreaks.
Additional investments to support the reform of the aged care sector will be announced as part of the Government’s 2020–21 Budget, to be delivered on 6 October.
Following a request from the Royal Commission, the Government agreed to extend its reporting period for a further three-and-a-half months due to the impact of COVID-19. This enabled the Royal Commission to examine the initial impact of COVID-19 on aged care and the response to date.
We thank the Commissioners for the COVID-19 report and for their work so far, and look forward to receiving their Final Report in February next year.
A summary of the measures to support the aged care sector and key activities undertaken by the Australian Government since the start of the pandemic is attached.

Australian Government funding in response to COVID-19 in aged care – overarching announcements

Key steps taken by the Australian Government to respond to COVID-19 in aged care – planning and preparedness

Stage 1 – Initial Response Plan:

• January – development of an overarching plan for management of COVID-19 for
  Australia through the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC)
• 31 January – fact sheets issued on COVID-19, including for aged care

Stage 2 – Release of National Response Plan:

• 18 February – the overarching plan for management of COVID-19, the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) released
• 27 February – pandemic declared and response plan activated
• 27 February – Letter from CMO to aged care providers which included the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) National Guidelines for Public Health Units in the Series of National Guidelines (SoNGs)
• 12 March – aged care rapid response team in Department of Health established.

Stage 3 – National Plan and Guidelines for COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care:

• 2 March – Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) Commissioner letter to all aged care service providers regarding planning and preparing for COVID-19
• 6 March – Aged Care Preparedness Forum with Minister Colbeck, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Aged Care Sector
• 11 March – $101.2 million in workforce preparedness measures – ensuring aged care workers are educated and trained in infection control and enable aged care providers to hire extra nurses and workers for both residential and home care
• 12 March – AHPPC released a statement on recommended testing and work restrictions for health and aged care workers
• 12 March – ACQSC Commissioner wrote to all aged care services providing an update on actions to protect the safety and wellbeing of aged care consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak
• 13 March – the CDNA published the National Guidelines for the Prevention, Control and Public Health management of COVID-19 outbreaks in residential care facilities
• 13 March – CMO sent a letter to the aged care sector to outline the Government’s current and future support for the central role they play in the national response, including PPE guidance
• 13 March – Minister Colbeck and specialist medical infection control experts convened an In-Home and Community Aged Care COVID-19 Preparedness webinar
• 16 March – online Infection Control Module “How to protect yourself and the people you are caring for from infection with COVID-19” released
• 17 March – ACQSC Commissioner letter to all aged care service providers regarding the updated regulatory response and access to information and guidance
• 17 March – AHPPC released recommendations to residential aged care facilities ensuring they are prepared to manage outbreaks of COVID-19
• 18 March – restrictions on visitors and staff of aged care facilities announced.

Stage 4 – Workforce and PPE Support:

• 20 March 2020 – $444.6 million in temporary funding to support aged care workforce continuity, including a workforce retention bonus for aged care workers
• 23 March – ACQSC Commissioner letter to all aged care service providers about visitor restrictions
• 24 March – guidance issued to aged care sector on process for ordering PPE supplies
• 24 – 27 March – aged care COVID-19 specific online training modules released
• 8 May – a webinar on outbreak preparation and management held to support providers and their staff.

Stage 5 – Revised National Plan and Guidelines for COVID-19 in aged care:

• 28 March – CDNA published updated COVID-19 guidelines for outbreaks in residential care facilities. Updates focused on:
  • clinical presentation in older people and
  • infection control guidance
• 2 April – Guide to outbreak management and guidance on alerting the Department about confirmed COVID-19 cases in aged care released
• 2 April – Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG – reports to AHPPC) released guidelines for infection prevention and control in residential aged care
• 2 April – Guide to support home care providers with COVID-19 released
• 3 April – ACQSC Commissioner letter to all aged care service providers regarding a suite of posters to help manage COVID-19 in residential facilities
• 4 April – Guide to support CHSP providers with COVID-19 released
• 7 April – AHPPC released a statement on healthcare workers use of PPE when caring for suspected, or confirmed COVID-19 patients
• 12 April – Minister Colbeck announced workforce contingency measures (surge workforce through Aspen and Mable)
• 21 April – National Cabinet met and discussed the lessons learned from recent COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care facilities. National Cabinet acknowledged the critical importance of adequate infection prevent and control measures in minimising the spread of COVID-19
• 22 April – AHPPC updated advice to residential aged care facilities about minimising the impact of COVID-19 released
• 22 April – ACQSC’s Chief Clinical Advisor wrote to residential aged care services on screening people entering residential aged care facilities
• 24 April – Minister Colbeck released media statement about the following:
  • social restrictions reiterating AHPPC advice
  • eSafety courses to keep senior Australians connected during COVID-19
  • personal monitoring technology for senior Australians and
  • help for senior Australians to access monitoring technology during self-isolation
• 26 April – COVID safe contact tracing app released
• 1 May – $205 million COVID-19 support package (new supplement) for all residential care aged care providers
• 1 May – National Cabinet endorsed preparation of sector led residential care Visitor Access Code
• 12 May – ‘Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19’ released
• 14 May – legislative amendments passed so that senior Australians not penalised or disadvantaged for moving out of an aged care facility during a crisis
• 19 May – CDNA released guidance for health and residential aged care settings on considering monitoring workers for symptoms of COVID-19
• 21 May – ACQSC released storyboards designed to illustrate key behaviours and priority issues during the COVID-19 pandemic

Stage 6 – Revised National Plan and Guidelines for COVID-19 in aged care:

• 10 June – infographic regarding aged care workers visiting your home published
• 19 June – AHPPC statement to provide updated advice on restrictions on entry to residential aged care facilities, including easing of restrictions released. National Cabinet endorsed on 26 June. Updated Industry Code released on 3 July
• 7 July – Minister Colbeck letter to aged care providers reminding them to have an up to date outbreak management plan
• 9 July – ACQSC Commissioner statement regarding Victorian outbreaks
• 10 July – Commonwealth and NSW Protocol to support joint management of COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care facilities released
• 13 July – Minister Hunt and Minister Colbeck distributed a joint media release about PPE use in Victorian aged care services and increased supply through the National Stockpile in response to situation in Victoria
• 14 July –CDNA published updated COVID-19 guidelines for outbreaks in residential care facilities. Updates focused on:
  • outbreak identification and management guidance
  • roles and responsibilities of Government agencies and
  • additional members for Outbreak management team
• 16 July – Additional testing teams deployed to test staff and residents in residential aged care services across metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire
• 16 July – ACQSC Commissioner statement regarding Victorian outbreaks
• 19 July – additional measures announced to support aged care providers in Victoria
• 24 July – case studies of successful outbreak management and additional information released to help manage outbreaks in residential aged care
• 25 July – announcement of establishment of Victorian Aged Care Response Centre to coordinate and expand resources to manage the outbreaks in Victorian aged care services
• 30 July – ICEG advice on use of PPE by health care workers in areas with significant community transmission released
• 31 July – ACQSC Commissioner letter to aged care providers about checks of infection control and correct use of PPE
• 6 August – ACQSC released guideline, ‘Six Steps to Stop the Spread’
• 7 August – Prime Minister announces National Cabinet to work to develop joint Commonwealth – State plans for aged care response including:
  • face-to-face infection control training
  • plans for implementation of compulsory actions in areas where there are active cases of COVID-19
  • establishment of Coordination Centres in each jurisdiction; and
  • an audit of State and Territory emergency response capabilities.
• 21 August – National Cabinet endorsed the Commonwealth, State and Territory Plan to Boost Aged Care Preparedness for a Rapid Emergency Response to COVID-19 including a Guide to the Establishment of Aged Care Health Emergency Response Operations Centres.
  • Implementation of the plan is being informed by the second survey of residential and aged care facilities (RACF) preparedness recently conducted by the ACQSC and state and territory audits of preparedness.
  • Establishment of a time-limited AHPPC Aged Care Advisory Group is endorsed to support the national public health response to COVID-19 in aged care. The Advisory Group brings together a broad range of critical expertise about the aged care sector, infection control and emergency preparedness, and public health response.
• 21 August – Government announces $171 million in additional support to the Aged Care Sector to increase National Preparedness and respond to the State of Disaster in Victoria

• 24 August – the AHPPC Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG) updated guidelines on cleaning and disinfection of protective eyewear in health and residential care facilities published
• 24 August – Minister Colbeck writes to all aged care providers about the release of the Independent Review of Newmarch House, requesting providers’ commitment to take action in response to the findings
• 31 August – Government announces additional $563.3 million to extend support for the aged care sector’s response to COVID-19, announced in March and subsequently as part of the Aged Care response plan
• 7 September – AHHPC endorses advice from its Aged Care Advisory Group that each state and territory should establish emergency response centres
• 18 September – National Cabinet notes progress underway on 21 August commitments:
  • Within each jurisdictions’ public health response structure, a dedicated aged care emergency response team is established and key personnel identified at the state and Commonwealth level.

Additional measures to support senior Australians in residential care and in the community

• 29 March – $10 million provided to the Community Visitors Scheme and support extra staff to train volunteer visitors to connect with older people in aged care online and by phone
• 31 March – $59.3 million – Meals On Wheels Programs Reinforced to Help Senior Australians at Home
• 25 May – $57 million to Improve palliative care in aged care facilities. The funding will help reduce the physical and emotional distress for individuals who require palliative care and their families
• 28 May – $6 million for a Communication package for two new initiatives to prevent loneliness and social isolation for senior Australians

The Morrison Government is launching a new era of Australian manufacturing, as part of our JobMaker Plan to rebuild the economy, create jobs and recover from the COVID-19 recession.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said around $1.5 billion in new funding will be invested over the next four years in the Modern Manufacturing Strategy to make Australian manufacturers more competitive, resilient and able to scale-up to take on the world.
“We make things in Australia. We do it well. We need to keep making things in Australia. And with this strategy, we will,” Prime Minister Morrison said.
“The COVID crisis opens a new chapter for Australian manufacturing as a revitalised source of high-wage jobs, valuable exports and national income.
“Our Modern Manufacturing Strategy is at the heart of our JobMaker plan. It starts with creating a stable and competitive business environment to grow our all parts of our manufacturing sector, but it does not end there.
“It will play to Australia’s strengths, improve collaboration and commercialisation, and create a sector that is modern, dynamic and highly skilled.
“Through this Strategy, we are determined to ensure government, industry and the research and education sectors are all working in the one direction to build scale in our manufacturing sector.
“Manufacturing is critical to Australia’s economic future, to the prosperity of our regions and to the capabilities that underpin the success of so many other industries.”
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said this strategy reflects the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as extensive work with industry before that.
“Our manufacturers have risen to the challenge to deliver during COVID-19 and now, we’re unlocking their potential to deliver for our future,” Minister Andrews said.
“By playing to our strengths, strategically investing and boosting the role of science and technology in industry, we can open up new markets and take more of our quality products to the world.
“This Strategy sends a clear signal that not only is Australia open for business, but we mean business.”
The centrepiece of the Strategy is the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI), which will see the Government strategically invest in projects that help manufacturers to scale up and create jobs.
The MMI will support projects within six National Manufacturing Priorities which reflect Australia’s established competitive advantages or emerging areas of priority:

• Resources technology and critical minerals processing
• Food and beverage
• Medical products
• Recycling and clean energy
• Defence
• Space

“This is about Australia playing to its strengths and the Government strategically investing in areas of manufacturing where we know we have an edge and that can deliver the jobs we need,” Minister Andrews said.
Industry will be engaged to co-design tailored road maps for each of the priority sectors to set clear goals over the next two, five and 10 years, and identify the barriers and opportunities that will guide action and investment.
The Strategy will also address the competitiveness of individual manufacturers in our priority sectors, with a $52.8 million expansion of the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund.
The COVID-19 crisis has also highlighted the need to better understand and address our supply chain issues and opportunities. A $107.2 million Supply Chain Resilience Initiative will support projects that address an identified supply chain vulnerability.
“This is about incentivising industry to take advantage of opportunities to provide both domestic and global supply chains with critical products,” Minister Andrews said.
Innovation and Science Australia will be repurposed as Industry Innovation and Science Australia, to provide a long-term perspective on growing the manufacturing sector and strong industry advice to Government throughout the implementation of the Strategy.
The Government is also comprehensively reviewing existing industry programs to better align them with the strategy. As part of this, we will provide an additional $50 million to the Industry Growth Centres initiative to support projects in the priority areas out until the end of June 2022.
This strategy builds on the work across Government to improve economic conditions for business, including streamlining regulation, cutting red tape and cutting input costs. A key part of that will be cutting energy costs as outlined in the Gas-fired recovery statement on 15 September 2020.

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said the Education Minister’s announcement the Commonwealth will fund 12,000 more student places for 2021 is a last-minute scramble to drum up support for unpopular university fee hikes and funding cuts.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Universities need a guaranteed, long-term funding boost, not a cynical injection of last-minute cash as the disastrous job-ready bill hangs in the balance.
“Universities are shedding tens of thousands of jobs and facing multi-billion dollar cuts. The government proposes putting a tiny band-aid on an open wound.
“While money for student places is always welcome, this is effectively an admission that the places promised in Job-ready Graduates come nowhere near satisfying demand for next year. Even with these new places, it won’t be anywhere near enough.
“When Covid-19 hit, the Liberals should have shown some leadership, provided a rescue package for universities and made university free for all students to aid our recovery.
“The grim reality is the government is crying poor on university funding while drawing up plans to bring forward billions in tax cuts for the wealthy,” she said.

The Morrison Government today announced new funding and a strategy for reducing the number of younger people living in residential aged care.
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Stuart Robert, and Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Richard Colbeck said the initiative includes $10.6m in the 2020-21 Budget for a national network of system coordinators to help younger people find age-appropriate accommodation and supports to allow them to live independently in the community.
Minister Robert said the Younger People in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) Strategy charts the course to meet the strengthened targets set by the Government in late 2019 and builds upon the YPIRAC Action Plan released in March 2019.
‘The Morrison Government is committed to ensuring no younger person needs to live in residential aged care,’ Mr Robert said.
The YPIRAC targets seek to ensure, apart from in exceptional circumstances, there are no people under the age of 65 entering residential aged care by 2022; no people under the age of 45 living in residential aged care by 2022; and no people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care by 2025.
‘The experiences and needs of younger people living in residential aged care, their families and carers, are central to this strategy,’ Mr Robert said.
‘It recognises and prioritises the rights of younger people to determine where and how they choose to live.
‘Priority areas of work have been co-designed with key stakeholders, with input from state and territory governments.
‘These include supporting greater choice and control, improving pathways and linkages across the disability, aged care, housing and health systems, and providing age-appropriate accommodation and ongoing support options.
‘Under the NDIS, we have seen significant progress in reducing the number of participants in residential aged care.”
From the launch of the Government’s YPIRAC Action Plan (March quarter 2019) to 30 June 2020, there has been a 39 per cent reduction in younger people entering residential aged care from 407 to 247, a 22 per cent reduction in people under the age of 45 living in residential aged care from 167 to 130, and a 15 per cent reduction in people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care from 5,715 to 4,860.
Minister Colbeck said the system coordinator initiative, funded in the 2020-21 Budget, will assist the Government to achieve and report against the targets in the YPIRAC Strategy.
‘As part of the 2020-21 Budget, the Government is establishing a national network of up to 40 system coordinators to directly help younger people living in, or at risk of entry to, residential aged care,’ Senator Colbeck said.
‘People who want to live on their own terms and with independence in the community will be supported to navigate Commonwealth and state and territory systems.
‘System coordinators will work with younger people and their families to support younger people to access the disability services, health services, housing and social supports they need.’
‘The initiative will go a long way to support younger people to move from residential aged care to age-appropriate accommodation and supports by 2025.’
The Younger People in Residential Aged Care Strategy 2020-2025 can be found here:
www.dss.gov.au/ypirac.

The Australian Government is extending testing and bolstering the supply of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) throughout residential aged care facilities across Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire to further supress COVID-19 infection rates.
To support the Victorian Government, capacity for asymptomatic testing of aged care workers will be extended and an additional seven million P2/N95 respirator face masks will be provided as the Commonwealth continues to help the sector drive down case numbers.
In making the announcement, Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, said the distribution of additional masks for aged care facilities reinforced the existing health safeguards for residents, workers and families.
“We are committed to ensuring all aged care facilities across the country have access to the critical PPE they require to keep residents and staff safe,” Minister Hunt said.
“To date, we have provided more than 12 million masks and approximately 3.5 million goggles and face shields to Victorian aged care services.”
Urging providers and staff to remain vigilant, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Richard Colbeck, said “the decrease in community transmission in Victoria was cause for optimism.”
“All facilities will be able to request P2/N95 respirator masks to support their delivery of safe care,” Minister Colbeck said.
He said capacity would also be extended to continue to regularly test aged care workers in Victoria.
“In July, we established Mobile Testing Clinics to test asymptomatic staff and residents in residential aged care facilities in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire,” Minister Colbeck said.
“This will be continued by the Australian Government’s dedicated aged care in-reach pathology service that prioritises COVID-19 testing for aged care residents and workers.
“Under the ‘in-reach’ program, more than 152,000 tests at more than 11,000 site visits to almost 2000 residential aged care facilities across Australia have been conducted.”
The Australian Government has already provided further support by funding bulk-billed Medicare tests for asymptomatic Victorian aged care workers which they will continue to take at any time.
This work helps detect areas of community transmission before outbreaks in aged care services occur. To date, more than 10,500 tests have been conducted.

The Australian Government is supporting Australian screen content by simplifying regulations and injecting $53 million into the development and production of local film and television as part of the 2020-21 Federal Budget.
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said that a vibrant local screen industry was essential to Australia’s cultural identity, while also supporting jobs and economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Government is providing $30 million in funding to Screen Australia over two years to support the production of Australian drama, documentary and children’s film and television content,” Minister Fletcher said.
“Screen Australia will also receive an additional $3 million over three years to establish a competitive grants program to cultivate quality Australian screenwriting and script development.
“We are also providing $20 million to the Australian Children’s Television Foundation over two years to boost the development, production and distribution of high-quality Australian children’s content.”
As part of these changes, the Producer Offset – a key screen funding mechanism through which producers receive a refund of part of the production budget through the tax system – will be set at a harmonised 30 per cent for all domestic film and television production.
‘The old approach of treating film and television differently no longer makes sense. Increasing the offset to 30 per cent for television will mean additional funding for Australian television production – and in turn support higher production values and programs with a better prospect of being sold into the global content market, taking advantage of the opportunity created by the explosion of streaming video services like Netflix, Disney+, Stan and Amazon Prime.”
These measures will be complemented by changes to streamline and simplify the drama, documentaries and children’s content ‘sub-quota’ Australian content rules for broadcasters.
The sub-quotas were temporarily suspended as an emergency measure during COVID-19, but will be reintroduced from 1 January 2021.
Content will count towards the new, simplified requirement if it is either drama, or children’s content, or documentary content. With the minor exception of a cap on the number of hours of documentary content that can be counted towards meeting the requirement, the particular mix chosen will be a matter for each broadcaster based on its business strategy and judgement of audience appeal.
Commercial broadcasters will continue to be required to provide 55 per cent overall Australian content on their primary channels between 6:00 am and midnight, and to provide 1,460 hours of Australian content per year on their multi-channels.
The points scheme underpinning the sub-quotas will give more points to higher-budget productions, creating a stronger incentive to commission bigger budget drama which is more likely to be sold globally rather than only be seen in Australia.
The Government will also legislate to reduce the existing Australian content spend obligation on selected subscription television channels from ten per cent to five per cent.
The Government has moved quickly to implement this package of reforms in the first budget brought down after the Supporting Australian Stories on our Screens options paper and consultation process.
It forms part of the Government’s 2019 commitment, in response to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Digital Platforms Inquiry, to a staged process to reform media regulation towards an end state of a platform-neutral regulatory framework covering both online and offline delivery of media content to Australian consumers.
Work will continue under that process, including examining whether to introduce an Australian content spend obligation on streaming video on demand services above a minimum size threshold in the Australian market.
As an initial measure, the largest streaming video services will be asked to commence reporting to the Australian Communications and Media Authority on Australian content acquisition from the 2021 calendar year.
“The Government very much appreciates the strong engagement we received during our consultations this year,” Minister Fletcher said.
“The views of stakeholders and interested parties were very clear – we need to continue our support for the production of Australian content, but we also need to remove unsustainable obligations on industry and tailor our interventions to match the new and diverse ways Australian content is being produced and consumed.”
“The measures announced today are designed to do just that. They begin to rebalance our regulatory framework and provide Australians with the opportunity to access Australian content across a range of media, regardless of whether they want to watch free-to-air television, subscription television or streaming services.”
More information on this package can be found here.

The long overdue announcement of the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation grants is welcome, but falls critically short of national demand and is no substitute for adequate funding in next week’s Budget, Greens Senate Leader Larissa Waters said.
“This funding is a fraction of the money needed to ensure women and children fleeing family violence have somewhere to go and get the support services they need,” Senator Waters, Greens spokesperson on Women, said.
“Announcing 700 new crisis places which the government contends will house 6,000 women and children nationally, when its own data shows almost 10,000 survivors were already turned away from crisis accommodation pre-Covid, means the government is condemning a third of women and children to a choice between violence or homelessness.
“Increased demand throughout Covid has meant Queensland Women’s Legal Service hasn’t been able to answer 50% of its incoming calls.  Much of the ‘emergency’ funding announced by the government to address increased demand on Family and Domestic Violence services in March is yet to reach the bank accounts of frontline services.
“Funding for crisis accommodation and support services for victim-survivors has never been more critical. Yet services have been waiting months for the support promised by this government, and made clear that much more is needed.
“The Greens support the sector’s calls for a significant increase in funding to fix the domestic and family violence crisis. Next week’s Budget must fund all frontline services needed to keep all victim-survivors of violence safe, and effective primary prevention,” Senator Waters said.

The Morrison Government is providing $9 million to support research into the causes, biology and progression of cancer among children and young adults.
Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease among Australian children. In the decade to 2015, nearly 1000 Australian children under the age of 15 died from cancer.
Delays in diagnosing childhood cancers can limit treatment options, and for some cancers, there are currently no effective treatments.
Tragically, survival rates for some cancers among children have not improved in more than 25 years, and new analysis of records held by the Australian Childhood Cancer Registry shows the rates of several childhood cancers are slowly rising.
This $9 million investment from the Government’s ground-breaking Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) will provide grant opportunities for Australia’s world-leading researchers to accelerate options to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer in children and adolescents.
The Grant Opportunity will fund projects in two streams of research:

• Cancers that occur in children aged 0-14 years.
• Cancers that occur in adolescents aged 10-19 years.

Funding of $3 million will be allocated to each of the two streams. The remaining $3 million will be earmarked to support the overall best research, irrespective of streams.
Consultation with The Kids’ Cancer Project and Cancer Australia, has informed the scope and priorities of the 2020 Childhood Cancer Research Grant Opportunity.
The Government’s MRFF is a $20 billion endowment fund. The MRFF is a long-term investment supporting Australia’s best and brightest researchers. Further information about the MRFF is available at www.health.gov.au/mrff.
Guidelines to apply for grants under the 2020 Childhood Cancer Research Grant Opportunity are available at https://www.grants.gov.au/