PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: I'm Patrick Gorman, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and the Member for Perth right here in the heart of the Perth electorate standing in Hyde Park, where families everyday come to celebrate important occasions like Mother's Day, children's birthdays, and so many other things. And what we are announcing today is a strategy to make sure that those people we care about most get the high quality care they need. And that's what we're doing with our draft National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy.
Until today, Australia didn't have a plan for this sector of the economy that's growing three times faster than other parts of the economy. And as of today, that changes. The work of the Prime Minister, his department and ministers, including Matt Keogh, the Minister for Veterans Affairs, who is with me today, have been doing is all about making sure that we have a plan for the future.
We saw under the previous Government jumping from crisis to crisis when it came to the care economy. Huge challenges in Matt's portfolio, which I'm sure he will talk about, that he's had to dive in and fix. Huge challenges have come to a 41% increase in childcare fees under the former Government. And then we of course, had the Aged Care Royal Commission Interim Report, titled 'Neglect.'
We want to change that, we want to make sure that we're planning for the future, making sure we've got good quality jobs, the right regulation, and that integrated plan across all parts of the care economy. So the plan we've announced today is about veterans care. It's about aged care. It's about disability care. And it's about early childhood education, making sure that we've got the right bits across that workforce.
Because what we know is that for many of the workers in this workforce as the system isn't currently working for them, already, we see that the incidence in the care economy of injuries at work is higher than both construction, or mining. So we want to make sure people have a safe workplace. What we've seen in the action we have had to take over the last year is a necessity to make sure that we have good quality, well-paying jobs. We've done that in this Budget that we announced just over two weeks ago by making sure we've got that 15% pay increase for the aged care workforce, factored into the Budget, so that finally we can give the right and fair pay for those workers. And what is also clear in this document is that this is a really important national economic conversation.
For too long, we have undervalued this sector, because in previous decades, this was a large part work that was done unpaid, in large part by women. And as a result, we haven't had the proper economic focus. And what we have done at a national level is try to coordinate; both with work through the National Cabinet, work that's come out of the Jobs and Skills Summit, and work done by the Prime Minister's Department to make sure we start to get that coordination to plan for the future.
This workforce is going to double over the next 30 years. So we want to make sure we have got a plan for that doubling, we got to make sure we've got a plan. So that everyone, all of us, whether it's when we're children, whether it's when we're in aged care, or if we serve in our Armed Forces, whenever we might need that support. We want to make sure that that support is there. And that's the plan that we're releasing to the Australian people to consult with us on today. To talk more about what that's going to mean when it comes to the really important work that Matt Keogh has been doing for the last year as the Minister for Veterans Affairs. I'll hand over my very good friend, Matt.
MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS: Thanks, Patrick. So, today with the release of the National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy, we are bringing together work that actually started in the very early days of this Government. Ministers across these sectors coming together and discussing these very important issues. Myself in Veterans Affairs; the Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells; the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Anne Aly; the Minister for NDIS, Bill Shorten; the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth.
Realising that we had some significant issues in coordination, and a complete lack of strategy from the previous Government in recognising some very important issues. When it comes to Defence and veterans support, what we saw is we have a system that provides in home support for veterans and their families, whether that's the nature of aged care support, and additional support that may be needed around the home, which was funded in a block funding type model, which is funded in such a way that see some of those workers being paid at the lower end that we see in the support economy. And that causing difficulty for the businesses in that area, some of whom have been forced to withdraw service, we've had to pick that slack up, we've invested more into that area. And along with the investment into the aged care workforce, we've made a similar investment for those that are supporting our veterans with their in-home supports. Of course, then we have a different model, again, for My Aged Care and a different model, again, to NDIS. With these three different models, what we've seen is that three different types of Government service providers are effectively competing against themselves for workforce, with three different models that are not coordinated, and don't have a singular strategy.
We then see at the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to early childhood education, some of our lowest paid workforce. And so what we as a Government have done, as Ministers across these quite different portfolios, have come together recognising the importance of the care and support economy, to make sure that there is a National Strategy. And that this Strategy, which is in draft, is all about making sure we're consulting with the right people. The people who use these services, the workers that work providing the supports, the businesses that are there, providing that support, employing those workers, and, of course, the peak body organisations that are involved as well.
But it's not just about a strategy. It's also about the other work that's already been ongoing, because we've recognised these issues. We've had the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which has recognised some of these issues. We've got the ongoing review into the NDIS. We've also got the reviews that have been done by the ACCC and the Productivity Commission into our early childhood education system. There's a number of reviews that are ongoing. But what's important is we do this all in a coordinated way to make sure that we have excellent service provision going into the future, that our workforce is not only looked after, but will be sustainable into the future. And that we have productivity and efficiency across this system to make sure that it's able to deliver for the growing Australian population, not just now, but well into the future.
And so this draft Strategy shows that we are a Government that cares, it shows that we're a Government that wants to make sure that we're coordinated in what we do, but that we are also listening to those that will benefit the most, those that use these services, the workers in it, and the businesses and organisations engaged in it. And I really encourage everybody to engage with this draft Strategy and provide their feedback.
REPORTER: The draft Strategy says that the cost of Governmental aged care, disability care, veteran support and childcare will be doubled in the next five years. Is that an inevitable reality? Or can those costs be contained before then?
KEOGH: So, certainly what it's identified is that, if you look at the current trajectory of these costs that are going to considerably increase, not only over the next few years, but over the decade, as well. And we need to make sure that we're looking at how can we best provide those services in a way that makes sure that people are properly remunerated for the work that they do, but also in a way that is efficient in the way that Government delivers those services. And so those reviews that I spoke on before in NDIS, in early childhood education, the work we're doing in Veterans Affairs are all important to making sure that we are getting the most efficiency out of these services, while also making sure that the service providers and their workers are getting what they deserve as well.
REPORTER: How do people get involved and give feedback?
KEOGH: So people are able to give that feedback via the Prime Minister and Cabinet website. The Department has been coordinating this work across all of our Departments. So people can Google ‘the National Care and Support Economy Strategy,’ and they will be able to find where they can provide that input and support.
REPORTER: You mentioned the need for clear productivity gains as well. Can you walk us through what some of those productivity gains might look like?
KEOGH: So, for example, right now we have this system where veterans in home support - My Aged Care support for people in homes, as well as NDIS support and the disability sector - all operate under three different models, are all trying to engage a similar workforce, and are competing against each other on price, which sees the level of support available in different areas. Both in terms of price and type of service, but also cities versus regions, where we have some thin markets in the regions, that not good transparency to service providers about that whole market size, which would encourage more people into provide service, are ways in which we need to engage with the sector across the board to find those productivity opportunities to get more people engaged in providing those services as well, given how big this sector really is, but people only looking at different parts of it.
REPORTER: And where will the workers be found to fill that going to be found? Will migration have to play a more significant role?
KEOGH: It is certainly the case that migration is going to have a role to play here, as is growing the training that is available to all Australians across the board. The care economy, in terms of providing disability support, early childhood education, support to veterans, but also more broadly into our hospital systems, our health system more broadly, is the fastest growing area of employment in the country and by a really big margin. And so, when I go into schools, and people say, oh, what should I look at doing? I tell them, Look, the care economy, the health system, are growing areas that you can find employment, and really encourage people to be trained in those areas, just like I encourage people to also consider joining the Defence Force. These are areas that people that are here should be considering. But we will also need to grow that workforce through migration, as well, so that we can continue to provide the level of support that Australians expect and deserve.
REPORTER: You mentioned as well about how these sectors face low pay and recognition, as well as administration actions, high workloads and unsafe work conditions. Is it possible to change all of those things? And how soon can that change happen?
KEOGH: There are really big issues being confronted here. We've just had a Royal Commission into Aged Care, we've got the Royal Commission into Disability. And I've highlighted some pretty big issues that take some time to grapple with. But what they also take are motivated governments. When we look at aged care, we saw under the previous Government they spent 18 months not doing that much. In the one year of this Government, we have achieved many more of the Recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission and have a roadmap through to how we're going to be implementing the rest of those Recommendations. So just because things are difficult, doesn't mean Government should be squeamish and not try and make sure that we are dealing with these difficult but important issues for the country. We've inherited a situation where these issues tried to be swept under the carpet a bit by the previous Government. What we are doing is acknowledging the importance of these issues by bringing together this draft Strategy for consultation now, so that we can put in place what's required to get this right in the future.
REPORTER: Can I just ask on trade -
KEOGH: - before I get onto trade, can I just check - people on the phone, any questions?
REPORTER: Hello? Yes, please. The National Seniors Australia is saying that older Australians are an untapped working resource. They're wanting pensioners to be able to work more hours? Are you taking that on board? Is there any progress in making changes to allow that to happen?
KEOGH: Well, during the the employment summit, the Jobs and Skills Summit that we had last year, we actually expanded the work bank opportunity for people on benefits and on pensions to be able to engage more of that workforce. And so we're certainly open to making sure we're engaging as many Australians as possible. We're very aware of the very low unemployment numbers at the moment. And that's why we're seeing an increased requirement for migration as well to make sure that we've got the skilled labour that we need in the country and tapping all of those available resources.
REPORTER: Our wine trade with China is obviously really important in WA and the rest of the country, when are tariffs going to end?
KEOGH: Well, I'll leave announcements about changes to tariff arrangements with China or any other countries, to the Minister for Trade. But obviously, it's so important for the country, as well as the industries in Western Australia, to make sure that those trade barriers are reduced and removed. So we can get back to a more normalised trading environment and see that revenue being generated by our industries across the country, whether that's wine, whether that's barley, whether that's in our resources sector. The opportunity to grow our economy, especially where we're seeing economies around the world starting to slow, is very important. And improving productivity in those spaces by removing tariffs is critical, too, but I'll leave announcements for that to the Trade Minister.
REPORTER: Will it be sooner rather than later?
KEOGH: Well, I don't want to get in front of the Trade Minister.
REPORTER: I have a question from Seven Media. What do you make of the accusations from Senator Thorpe that she will lodge a complaint in the Human Rights Commission against the Greens, alleging that she was subjected to racism while a member of that Party?
KEOGH: I'll leave Greens Party matters to the Greens Party.
GORMAN: I'll just say one other thing. On the question, the other thing that that the Senator has been out talking about today has been about this very important question that Australians will be asked this year, indeed West Australians be asked later this year, which is, 'do we want to finally recognise our First Australians in our founding document, the Constitution?'
I think anyone who looks carefully at all of the information that is out there looks at the six-year journey we've gone on since the Uluru statement, we'll come to the conclusion that yes, it is time.
And I was concerned to see, Senator Thorpe out there advocating an informal vote. This is a really serious matter. I encourage every Australian: don't throw away your vote. Don't listen to this suggestion from Senator Thorpe that there should somehow be an informal vote. It is a yes/no question. And once you read the Uluru Statement from the Heart, once you've read the legislation, once you read the proposed Constitutional Amendment, you will come to the conclusion that yes, it is time for constitutional recognition. Yes, it is time to do that recognition through a Voice.
And any suggestion, that in a great democracy like Australia, that people should just throw their vote away in protest is grossly irresponsible from anyone who serves in the Parliament of Australia.
Thank you very much.
ENDS