Month: October 2021

The Australian Government cannot just wash its hands of the people it exiled to Papua New Guinea, the Greens say.
“Today is a day to remember the people who died as a result of being illegally exiled to Papua New Guinea, and the countless other lives that were destroyed,” Greens Immigration spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“People who sought asylum in Australia remain Australia’s responsibility under international law, and no amount of bureaucratic maneuvering can change that fact.
“Offshore detention has been a humanitarian calamity at every level, and has cost Australia tens of billions of dollars.
“While offshore detention in Papua New Guinea will end, perhaps its most shameful legacy is the adoption of the same brutal policies and rhetoric in so many other countries around the world.”
“The people remaining in Papua New Guinea should be brought immediately to Australia and allowed to resettle here.”

The Greens’ model for a National Integrity Commission, which passed the Senate two years ago, has been given top marks by The Centre for Public Integrity, while the Morrison model was judged “the weakest in the country”.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on democracy Senator Larissa Waters said:
“This PM’s integrity body proposal has today been given an F for flaccid.
“Under his pathetic proposal many of the misconduct scandals involving current and former government MPs would slip through the net.
“Morrison knows that half of the members of his Cabinet have serious integrity questions to answer, which could explain why his model is deliberately weak. It wouldn’t be able to hold public hearings, initiate its own investigations, act retrospectively, make findings of fact or report publicly.
“It would also only investigate ‘serious’ criminal corruption – such a high bar so as to render it inapplicable to much of the dodgy conduct we’ve seen from federal politicians.
“It’s long overdue, and it’s so undercooked it looks like it’s deliberately designed to fail.
“By contrast, the Greens’ National Integrity Commission bill establishes an effective body that allows for public hearings, retrospectivity and the ability to investigate anonymous tip-offs, balanced with appropriate safeguards and privacy provisions.
“Morrison should listen to the Australian people and bring on the Greens’ bill for debate in the House when parliament resumes. If he doesn’t, the Greens will attempt to force the PM’s hand by moving a concurrence motion.
“The Australian people know that corruption and misconduct are rife at the federal level. It’s time for the PM to restore confidence in our democracy.”

Labor’s decision to let big corporations keep JobKeeper profits is a complete capitulation, the Greens say.
“We know that $13 billion went to boosting the bottom line of profitable companies during the pandemic,” Greens Economic Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“The fact that Labor is happy for big corporations to keep this money just shows that they are far more focused on their big donors than helping people who need it most.”
“JobKeeper turned into one of the biggest rorts in Australian corporate history, and the money that corporations didn’t need should be clawed back and spent on schools and hospitals.”
“This is a shocking capitulation – we’ve got a plan to force large, profitable corporations to pay back JobKeeper – and we’ll keep hammering the major parties on their support for corporate greed.”
“The Greens Bill is currently before a Senate Inquiry and we will keep the pressure on the government, even if Labor won’t.”

Food and nutrition for aged care residents across Australia will come into sharp focus as providers deliver their first reports under mechanisms to strengthen individual care.
In a continued response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the online reporting will improve transparency and standards, as providers receive increased funding through the basic daily fee of $10 per resident per day.
Residential aged care providers were required to commit to reporting on their services, in particular food and nutrition, as a prerequisite to receiving the funding boost.
The initiative aims to improve and strengthen one-on-one care for senior and vulnerable Australians in residential aged care settings across the country, and is part of the overall $17.7 billion the Australian Government is providing in response to the Royal Commission report.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, and Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, said 99 per cent of providers had taken up the 2021 Basic Daily Fee supplement, which requires a commitment from them to provide good quality services with a focus on food and nutrition.
“Such a strong take up must be commended and we now expect that all aged care providers will use these funds to deliver improved care, including food and nutrition, to senior Australians.”
“Food and nutrition is so important to keep our senior Australians healthy. The Department of Health is working with dietitians and nutrition experts to ensure the reports capture useful information, and most importantly improves the health of people living in aged care.”
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, said the 2021 Basic Daily Fee is part of a $3.22 billion investment by Government into residential aged care which includes the increased supplement.
In the first month alone, the Government has paid out over $53.7 million to support providers through the 2021 basic daily fee.
“This is a significant investment towards improving the care which senior Australians, their families and the community rightly expect in residential aged care,” Minister Colbeck said.
The 2021 basic daily fee reporting process is now open through the My Aged Care portal and must be completed by 21 October 2021, recording expenditure and hours, including spending on food and ingredients.
“We also require providers to detail how they are working to improve their daily living service offerings including food and nutrition, to gauge how the sector is delivering more for the senior Australians in their care,” Minister Colbeck said.
The information will be used to provide insights into sector trends, to inform future policy, and may be used by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission for the purposes of regulatory intelligence. It is intended sector wide information and insights on food and nutrition will be made publicly available.
Providers who do not submit a report by the due date will have their basic daily fee supplements suspended until the report is submitted. Given that there is no option for back-payment, providers are encouraged to submit these as soon as possible.
The Morrison Government is also investing a further $14.2 million to review and strengthen the quality standards in residential aged care, with a focus on governance, diversity, dementia, food and nutrition.
Information about the reforms can be found here.
To have your say on how the reforms are delivered, visiting the Ageing and Aged Care Engagement Hub here.
Nutrition Week will run this year from 10 to 16 October. Find out more here.

A program that provides young doctors with the experience of training in a rural general practice or Aboriginal Medical Services and provides more medical care to regional, rural and remote communities is being extended by the Federal Coalition Government.
Federal Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie said extending the Rural Junior Doctor Training Innovation Fund (RJDTIF) for another year will mean 60 fulltime-equivalent rurally based interns and postgraduate doctors can undertake training in country practices.
“This program allows early-career doctors to take the opportunity to train in the rural communities where clinical opportunities are abundant, while also enjoying the benefits of a regional or rural lifestyle,” Dr Gillespie said.
“There is strong evidence that undertaking medical training in a regional or rural setting increases retention rates.
“The program has already benefitted more than 50 towns and 80 sites across regional, rural, and remote locations, such Nhulunbuy in the NT, Goondiwindi in QLD and Bega in NSW with approximately 814 rotations since 2018.”
Dr Gillespie, who worked as a regional doctor for more than 30 years before becoming a MP, said the funding extension is being provided to the 15 organisations currently funded through the program.
“The organisations receiving funding for 2022, will support around 240 rotations in general practices and Aboriginal Medical Services, meaning increased access to health professionals for those in the regions,” Dr Gillespie said.
“The program helps to build our rural health workforce and helps to deliver quality healthcare to regional, rural and remote Australians.
“The Nationals in Government are committed to improving access to quality health care in the bush and helping early-career doctors to gain experience in primary care while they progress their medical training in rural Australia is an important foundation for that.”
The Federal Government is providing $11.7 million to continue the RJDTIF program for the 2022 academic year. The funding is being provided through a closed non-competitive approach and rotation locations will be announced at the conclusion of grant round.
More than $36 million has been provided to the program which assists junior doctors in their first or second postgraduate years to train in rural general practices by the Federal Government since 2018.
The new John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program (JFPDP), announced as part of the 2021-22 Budget, will consolidate the RJDTIF to increase rural primary care rotations for hospital-based prevocational doctors from 440 rotations (100 FTE) in 2022 incrementally to 800 rotations (200 FTE) by 2025. This will enable an additional 360 hospital-based junior to doctors to experience rural general practice.