Category: Australian News

Face-to-face support to access and navigate aged care will be the centrepiece of new services to help senior Australians.
The Morrison Government has committed in the Budget to provide face-to-face aged care support in 325 Services Australia centres, aged care specialists in 70 additional service centres and $93.7 million to introduce a network of up to 500 local “Community Care Finders” – staff in local organisations specifically charged with helping vulnerable senior Australians who need specialist support.
It marks another significant step forward as the Government responds to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The Australian Government has today released the final report of the evaluation of the Aged Care System Navigator trials, which found local, face-to-face support is highly valuable to senior Australians accessing aged care.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, thanked the Council of the Ageing Australia (COTA) and its 30 partner organisations, as well as Services Australia for staging the trials, funded in the 2018–19 Budget.
“The trials involved COTA Australia and its partners delivering different ways of providing navigation support between October 2018 and June 2020 as well as Services Australia trialling specialist aged care financial information support,” Minister Hunt said.
“The COTA-led trials have been extended to June 2021 due to disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while the Royal Commission’s  investigation into issues, including navigating aged care, was ongoing.”
Minister Hunt said key findings in the report show users of the navigator service were satisfied with the experience, and reported improved knowledge and confidence in accessing aged care services.
“There are also positive findings around improved experience for senior Australians who may be hard to reach or part of vulnerable population groups.”
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck said the Morrison Government was committed to making access to aged care services easier.
“We understand the difficulties senior Australians, their families and carers have faced as they make the transition to care,” Minister Colbeck said. “This face-to-face support will ensure those seeking information will be able to tap into the knowledge of local experts.”
“The Royal Commission found that aged care required a much greater face-to-face presence to support access and utilisation, and now the Aged Care System Navigator trials evaluation supports that finding, it’s a clear indicator of the way forward.”
“The report also found  navigator services work best when they can be locally tailored, ensuring the appropriate level of local knowledge and flexibility to meet the needs of local seniors,” Minister Colbeck said.
In this year’s Budget the Government announced a further extension to the trials to continue support until the longer-term Connecting senior Australians to aged care services and navigation support within Reforms to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people  are implemented.

With approximately 20,000 Australians dying each year from tobacco-related illness, the Australian Government is investing $3 million through Cancer Council Victoria towards a new national best practice support service for nicotine cessation to ensure these health professional have up-to-date evidence-based resources.
Additional initiatives in the 2021–22 Budget aimed at encouraging people to quit smoking include the expansion of telehealth and face-to-face services to support patients’ access to general practitioner consultations.
Research shows having the support of a health professional greatly improves a smoker’s chances of successfully quitting.
There has never been a better time to quit smoking. The World Health Organisation notes that smokers face a 40-50% higher risk of developing severe disease and death from COVID-19. Quitting smoking now could reduce the severity of disease for anyone who contracts COVID-19.
There is also strong evidence that quitting smoking improves mental health, reducing depression, anxiety and stress.
We know from the Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys that 13.8% of Australian adults smoke tobacco daily. However, among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people this rate is more than double, 37%, making it the leading contributor to disease.
Smoking causes half of all deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults 45 years or older. Reducing tobacco use in this population continues to be a public health priority.
The Tackling Indigenous Smoking program commenced in 2010, and has contributed to cutting the daily smoking rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from around 50% to 37%.
The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health, a service provider for the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program, is the winner of a World Health Organization’s World No Tobacco Day 2021 award for the Deadly Choices program, recognising its achievements in tobacco control.
Quitting is not always easy, but assistance is available and the benefits are significant. It is never too late to stop smoking. The younger you are, and the sooner you stop, the better. It is also best never to start.
For help to quit smoking:

• talk to your trusted health professional
• call Quitline – 13 78 48
• visit www.quit.org.au, and
• download the free My Quitbuddy app.

World No Tobacco Day is an initiative of the World Health Organization and has been celebrated on 31 May since 1988.

Another 47 communities will take up the challenge of fighting drugs and alcohol in their midst, after being accepted for inclusion in the Australian Government’s innovative Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) program.
The 47 new LDATs bring the total number of active community teams across the nation to a record 280.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) operates the program for the Government.
The LDAT program emphasises building protective factors in the community. Many of the teams are focused on working with vulnerable groups in their communities to prevent alcohol and drugs misuse, including crystal methamphetamine or ice.
The new community LDATs will each receive $10,000 upfront to help them through the initial phase. During this phase, a member of the ADF will assist them with setting up, undertaking community consultation, and developing a Community Action Plan tailored to their local alcohol and other drug issues.
When this phase is completed, the LDATs can apply for further funding to support delivery of their action plans.
The LDAT Program recognises that every community is different. Its expansion is very positive news, as more communities are joining together to give their people the resources to reduce the misuse of alcohol and other drugs in their communities.
The Government has committed more than $29 million to the LDAT program since it began in 2016-17, as part of the $450 million National Ice Action Strategy.
As part of the 2021/22 Budget, the Government also committed $ 5.9 million to continue the Good Sports Program, which complements LDAT activities.
Good Sports helps community sporting clubs to develop policies on alcohol and other drugs, to reduce their impact on club members and the wider community.
This funding will expand Good Sports to another 400 clubs and support the new consolidated digital delivery platform to improve its efficiency and availability. More than 10,000 clubs are already engaged in the Good Sports program.
LDATs deliver evidence-based information, education and mentoring programs to prevent and minimise the risk of harms related to alcohol and other drugs. A wide range of other grassroots activities may be undertaken to allow people to connect, engage, empower and support each other.
This approach has proven to be successful in heading off the harm that drugs and alcohol misuse bring to individuals, families and across the community.
LDATs are formed from partnerships that can include local government, community groups, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisations, business associations, police, schools, local Primary Health Networks, and other interested not-for-profit organisations.
Organisations that have not been accepted into the LDAT program can deliver alcohol and other drug prevention initiatives in their local area using free resources available on the Alcohol and Drug Foundation website at https://community.adf.org.au/.

Yet another COVID-19 outbreak from hotel quarantine has plunged a state into lockdown. Yet another COVID-19 outbreak from hotel quarantine has closed state borders.
The risk to the health and livelihood of Australians has not gone away, and the Morrison Government must get their act together and treat this pandemic with the urgency it deserves.
But because of their complacency, we’ve seen another outbreak stem from hotel quarantine. If Scott Morrison had built a fit-for-purpose national quarantine system – a responsibility that sits squarely with the Prime Minister – then this outbreak would not have happened.
Some of the people at the centre of this current outbreak were eligible for the vaccine. If the Morrison Government hadn’t botched our vaccine rollout, those people would have been vaccinated by now.
Australians want a clear plan for the future – a plan that gives them clarity and certainty.
It’s now clear for everyone to see that Scott Morrison doesn’t have a plan to beat COVID-19. But we do.
If I were Prime Minister, an Albanese Labor Government would:

1. Build new quarantine facilities and expand existing facilities in every state and territory – because it’s time to end the blame game and be a true partner with the states and territories.
2. Fix the vaccine rollout and expand mobile and mass vaccination clinics to get as many Australians vaccinated as quickly as possible. We would stop the excuses and get everyone who lives and works in aged or disability care vaccinated. We have the doses and we know where they are. There’s simply no excuse for the delay.
3. Start a mass public information campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated, and start a process for considering incentives to achieve that aim.
4. Begin manufacturing mRNA vaccines, like Pfizer, right here in Australia. This virus isn’t going away and when it comes to beating it, we need to be able to stand on our own two feet.

The Greens have called on the PM to drop the veil of secrecy and release the review by Stephanie Foster into processes for responding to serious incidents at Parliament House.
Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson on women Senator Larissa Waters said: 
“The Prime Minister’s description of what Ms Foster has recommended seems positive, but forgive me for not taking the PM’s word for it given his appalling track record on women’s equality and safety.
“The Prime Minister must release the Foster review. He must say whether he will act on her recommendations, on what timeframe, and with what resourcing.
“An independent complaints body is long overdue and has been called for by Brittany Higgins, and by many others including the Greens for many years.
“Important questions need answering which Ms Foster was unable to answer in senate estimates today.
“The Prime Minister must answer if and how the complaints body will be able to sanction MPs, given the gaping holes in existing processes, and given the Prime Minister’s track record of keeping alleged abusers within Cabinet.
“The Prime Minister must say if the recommended independent complaints body would be retrospective, and if workplace safety training would be compulsory for MPs.
“We know from Senate Estimates yesterday that policies for dealing with serious incidents have not been updated since Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape more than two years ago. It’s an astounding failure.
“After months of revelations of vile, abusive and misogynistic behaviour in this building the women who work in Parliament House can wait no longer for the PM to face up to his responsibilities and ensure a safe workplace for all.”

The Greens have today warned that the ongoing crisis in the Queensland energy market is a sign of things to come if we continue to rely on an aging coal fleet to keep the grid secure.
It has been reported that the fire at the Callide Power Station left over 470,000 homes and businesses without power, and the market operator was forced to issue a Level 2 Lack of Reserve notice at 4:44pm to manage the risk of further rolling blackouts.
CS Energy, the operator of Callide Power Station (and joint owner of Callide C with multinational InterGen), has announced this morning that one of their generating units may be out for up to 12 months, and are yet to confirm a timeframe for when the three remaining generating units will come back online
These events come at a critical juncture, with Minister Taylor having used his speech at the 2021 Australian Energy Week Conference on Tuesday to spruik a “physical retailer reliability obligation”, a scheme that would force electricity users to pay coal fired power stations for their available capacity.
“The Greens are relieved by the news that no-one was harmed by the fire at Callide Power Station”, said Adam Bandt, Leader of the Australian Greens
“However, Tuesday’s events make clear that we cannot rely on coal-fired power stations to keep the lights on while we transition to a zero emissions electricity grid.”
“It’s no surprise that 24 hours since the fire began, the Energy Minister is nowhere to be seen. The Liberals’ lie that coal is required for grid stability is unravelling before their eyes.
“Minister Taylor is trying to smuggle in a new scheme that would force households and business to subsidise our aging coal-fired power stations under the banner of ‘reliability’.
“With Australia’s increasingly unreliable coal-fired power station fleet, now is the time to press the accelerator on the renewables and batteries revolution
“Minister Taylor must now front the media and make clear how his new reliability scheme, which would push up bills for households and businesses, would supposedly prevent events like Tuesday’s coal-fired power outage from happening.

The Australian Government is increasing its efforts to promote cancer screenings to support and improve outcomes for all Australians, including $9.7 million for a new National Bowel Cancer Screening Program awareness campaign.
The campaign will aim to increase the numbers of Australians taking their free bowel cancer test and will focus on men aged 50 to 59 years, people living in regional and remote Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and individuals from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities.
Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia and is more common in people over the age of 50. Each year, more than 15,000 cases are diagnosed and more than 5,000 lives are lost to bowel cancer.
When detected early, however, the great majority (around 90%) of bowel cancers can be successfully treated.
Bowel cancer is one of the types of cancer targeted by Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, Cancer Council Australia’s flagship event.
In 2020, the Biggest Morning Tea was hit hard by COVID-19. I encourage everyone to hold a morning tea or take part in one this year, in a COVID safe way.
Cancer Council Australia does fantastic work raising funds for research, funding prevention initiatives, communicating about cancer prevention and screening, and most importantly, providing support to people diagnosed with cancer.
Our Government is increasing its efforts on cancer screening to help more Australians to get early treatment and beat the disease.
As part of the 2021-22 Budget we announced a number of measures to support our already strong national cancer screening programs, including:

• more than $100 million to improve early detection of breast and cervical cancer, which includes $67 million to continue the expansion of BreastScreen Australia’s mammogram services to women aged 70 to74 years.
• $6.9 million in 2021-22 to establish the feasibility of a new national lung cancer program, and to trial new cancer care nurses for lung cancer patients; and
• $32.8 million with the aim of eliminating cervical cancer in Australia by 2035, through the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP).

Last month, we also held a Ministerial Roundtable with Cancer Australia, the first step in the development of a visionary ten-year Australian Cancer Plan.
The Plan will set out the key national priorities and action areas over the next 10 years to improve outcomes for Australian’s affected by cancer. It will also cover prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and palliative care, while providing for the unique needs of specific cancer types and populations.
These initiatives consolidate Australia as a world leader in the early detection of cancer.

The Australian Government is releasing an additional 130,000 vaccines to support Victoria to accelerate vaccinations in the state, including in the Whittlesea Local Government Area.
This support will be provided through an immediate release of 40,000 doses this week and an additional 15,000 doses each week for six weeks.
Further, from Monday, the Altona North Commonwealth Vaccination Clinic will commence vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine, this is in addition to the AstraZeneca vaccine they are currently administering.
All 16 residential aged care facilities in the Whittlesea Local Government Area are fully vaccinated.
In the surrounding Local Government Areas of Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Moreland and Nillumbik, 66 of the 67 residential aged care facilities have received at least one dose with the final residential aged care facility in these Local Government Area’s to receive their first dose clinic this week.
There are 598 residential aged care facilities in Victoria. 569 facilities have received a first dose clinic, with 361 fully vaccinated with both doses. The remaining 29 facilities will be prioritised.
The Government will provide further support as required to help Victoria to respond to this outbreak.

Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called on the Morrison government to reject United States strategic military ambitions in Northern Australia.
Senator Steele-John said the strategic ambitions of the United States would clearly put Australia on a pathway to hosting nuclear-capable weapons that is at odds with our commitments to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty of Raratonga (SPNFZ) and article 6 of the United Nations Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
“This is a very serious escalation by the United States and Australia must not be drawn into it,” Senator Steele-John said.
“Over the last decade we’ve seen a significant build up of United States military in the Northern Territory starting with the Marine Rotational Force in 2011, followed in late 2019 by commitments to store fuel reserves and extend the runway at RAAF Base Tindall in Darwin to accept B-52 Bombers.
“Now we are seeing the next phase of this build up with the United States announcing their wish to build and store precision-guided missiles here in Australia’s top end.
“The Northern Territory community has very clearly said that they do not accept the ongoing rotation of US troops through the top end, nor the build up of US military equipment at RAAF Base Tindall.
“The aspirations of the US government, announced last night by Ambassador Goldman, clearly contravene not only Australia’s nuclear non-proliferation treaty commitments but also the wishes of the Australian public.
“The ball is now in court of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to state clearly that Australia will not be the Un