Category: Australian News

The Morrison Government will invest an additional $1 billion in funding to help older Australians live at home for longer.
Another 10,000 home care packages – at a cost of more than $850 million – will be released as the Government continues to prioritise the needs of older and vulnerable Australians.
It adds to the Morrison Government’s record investment in aged care, from $13.3 billion in 2012-13 to $21.3 billion in 2019-20.
While the population of those aged 70 and over has jumped by 28 per cent since 2012, home care packages have increased by over 200 per cent with funding tripling – or more than 10 times the growth in population of older Australians.
Estimated funding for aged care will grow to more than $27 billion in 2023-24 – or an average $1.1 billion of extra support for senior Australians each year over the forward estimates.
The latest additional investment means almost 50,000 packages, at a cost of $3.3 billion, have been funded since the Royal Commission’s Interim Report.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was important older Australians received the care they needed.
“The health and wellbeing of older Australians is an absolute priority,” the Prime Minister said.
“By providing more support to people at home, we are ensuring that Australians, as they age, have greater choices and their families have greater choices.
“Our Government has continued to increase funding in aged care every year by more than $1 billion, adding thousands of extra home care packages at every opportunity.
“We will continue to address the many challenges there are in aged care, not only by boosting funding but also providing better access to health services to improve physical and mental wellbeing for older Australians.
“At every opportunity for the last three years, the Government has tripled the number of home care packages and in addition to Budget announcements, we have provided 10,000 additional home care packages at MYEFO every year for the past three years. This commitment continues.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the new packages are in addition to a $1.6 billion investment for more than 23,000 packages announced in the 2020–21 Budget.
It will increase the number of Australians receiving in-home care support to approximately 195,600 by 30 June 2021 – more than three times as many as when the Coalition formed Government.
“The latest investment underlines our commitment to help older Australians live at home for longer,” Minister Hunt said.
“It’s an important measure that can be instrumental to overall health and wellbeing and offer reassurance to families that their loved one is receiving appropriate care.”
The Government continues to build on the reform process for the delivery of care in the home as proposed by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Funding also includes:
an additional $57.8 million for aged care under the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response;
$63.3 million to support increased access to allied health services and improved mental health care supports for people in residential aged care, which includes:
o$35.5 million to provide access to Medicare subsidised individual psychological services under the Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the MBS (Better Access) initiative until 30 June 2022 and to evaluate Better Access.
o$12.1 million for additional individual allied health sessions under Medicare chronic disease management plans.
o$15.7 million for allied health group services for residents living in facilities affected by COVID-19 outbreaks.
The expansion of the eligibility requirements for the Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners is ensuring people living in residential aged care can access suitable mental health support.
This will help all aged care residents access the Better Access initiative in the same way as people living in the community.
Psychological services will be provided by eligible general practitioners, psychologists, social workers or occupational therapists in accordance with a mental health treatment plan developed in consultation with the patient’s general practitioner or psychiatrist.
Financial disincentives for providers to offer services for those living in residential aged care will be removed.
The extension of the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response will bolster protection measures, including expert training and support in infection prevention and control for all states and territories.
Additionally, the Government is providing $8.2 million to extend the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre until 30 June 2021 to ensure the dedicated scalable support remains in place to rapidly respond to the pandemic and coordinate the Victorian response to outbreaks in aged care.
Another $11.1 million over five years will help fast-track the implementation of the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) to protect senior Australians from abuse and neglect. It takes the total investment in the program to $67.2 million.
The SIRS will drive improvements in quality and safety at the individual service and broader system level, by requiring residential aged care providers to manage all incidents, with a focus on the safety and wellbeing of consumers and reducing preventable incidents from reoccurring.
Minister Colbeck said the latest investment underlines the commitment of the Australian Government as it continues to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission’s Special Report on COVID-19, released in October 2020.
“We are building on more than $1.7 billion in support measures implemented as part of the Morrison Government’s response to the impact of COVID-19 in aged care,” Minister Colbeck said.
“The virus has presented the greatest challenge the sector has ever faced, but the Australian Government is moving beyond responding to the pandemic to drive the biggest transformation of aged care in our nation’s history.”

The Morrison-McCormack Government will deliver a safer and more efficient Inland Rail whilst also backing thousands of extra jobs and billions in additional economic activity through major enhancements to the planning, design and delivery of Australia’s largest freight infrastructure project.
The improvements will deliver a stronger Inland Rail, with the design now including more than 4,500 additional culverts, nine additional viaducts, an additional 6.8 kilometres of bridges, 10 extra grade separations, approximately 450 kilometres of additional fencing, as well as removing 139 level crossings.
These enhancements are a result of significant work by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to progress designs, to engage with communities and undertake the detailed analysis required to build the 1,700 kilometre rail line, including approximately 600 kilometres of greenfield track.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the enhancements would lead to a safer and more efficient Inland Rail as well as deliver significant benefits for regional communities, businesses and jobs.
“Inland Rail is a jobs bonanza. It’s already supporting thousands of jobs, has already started to generate billions in economic activity and will eventually lead to a boost of more than $18 billion Gross Domestic Product during construction and in the first 50 years of operation,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
“These enhancements will provide for greater local investment, mean Inland Rail will now support more than 21,500 jobs at the peak of construction and deliver an extra economic boost of $2 billion.
“Australian communities and industries have asked for more from this national infrastructure project and we have listened.
“These enhancements to the Inland Rail network will deliver more contracts for local businesses and more work for Australians at a time when we need them most.
“Inland Rail isn’t just being built by the big companies and Tier 1 contractors – across Australia businesses of all sizes are tendering for work and benefiting from the construction of Inland Rail.
“This world-class freight rail line from Melbourne to Brisbane will be the ‘spine’ of the national freight network, enabling travel between Melbourne and Brisbane in less than 24 hours, while connecting major ports and all mainland state capitals.”
Enhancements will be made possible through an additional injection of up to $5.5 billion of equity into ARTC.
Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham said the Morrison-McCormack Government’s investment in Inland Rail would be a game-changer to how freight is moved within Australia.
“Our ongoing investment in Inland Rail is backing jobs and businesses in regional Australia and will see the construction of a world-class freight network connecting Melbourne and Brisbane,” Minister Birmingham said.
“Every dollar our Government invests in Inland Rail is a dollar spent for the benefit of our regional communities, businesses, jobs and our economic recovery.
“This is about being responsive to the needs of the farmers, businesses and communities who will rely on Inland Rail.
“We’re making improvements to the design to deliver a more efficient network while at the same time supporting even more jobs and more economic activity.
“We’re going to have a mammoth freight task into the future – our urban freight task alone is expected to increase by nearly 60 per cent over the next two decades – and enhanced Inland Rail will ensure we have the capacity to meet Australia’s future freight needs.
“Enhanced Inland Rail will change the way we move freight in Australia, supporting the fast, reliable and cost-competitive movement of goods and resources. Our investment will strengthen supply chains, and better connect regional areas along the network with customers across Australia and the world.”
The first section of Inland Rail, between Parkes and Narromine, is now completed. In that section alone, more than 1,800 people worked on the project, including more than 762 local residents and 302 Indigenous workers. Almost $110 million was spent with local businesses, whilst 14,000 tonnes of Whyalla Steel worth $20 million was used.
Work has now started on the 171-kilometre Narrabri to North Star section, which will support thousands of jobs in north-western NSW and will use approximately 25,000 tonnes of Whyalla Steel and 341,000 Australian made concrete sleepers.
Planning is also well advanced on other sections of the track, with the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the largest section between Narromine to Narrabri on public display and a further four statements expected to be released for the Queensland sections of Inland Rail in the coming months.
ARTC is also currently working with the New South Wales Government to respond to submissions made during the public exhibition of the North Star to Queensland Border EIS, which closed October 2020.
A report by EY found Inland Rail could boost gross regional product by a further $13.3 billion in today’s dollars and deliver up to 2,500 full time jobs in the 10th year of operation. This is from Australian businesses starting, growing and thriving along the Inland Rail alignment following construction and is in addition to the more than $18 billion boost to Gross Domestic Product and 21,500 jobs during peak construction.
For more information on Inland Rail, visit www.InlandRail.gov.au

Australian Greens Housing spokesperson and Senator for NSW, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to a report by Equity Economics projecting a national 24 per cent rise in housing stress and 9 per cent rise in homelessness next year. NSW will be particularly hard hit with housing stress to rise by 42 per cent and homelessness by 19 per cent.
Senator Faruqi said:
“The alarm bells are well and truly ringing on housing stress and homelessness.
“We need the federal government to declare this a crisis and to look at all policy options to avoid this looming disaster.
“A huge national investment in social housing in the coming years will be required to ensure everyone has a roof over their head. Housing is a human right.
“In the short term, homelessness services will need to be properly funded and there is no way we can let the Jobseeker payment go back to the pre-Covid rate.
“The Covid-19 response has shown us that homelessness is not inevitable. Governments can choose to either tackle or ignore it. It’s our responsibility to make sure everyone has a roof over their head,” she said.

The Australian Government has extended the capital sensitivity exemption for medical imaging equipment in rural and regional Australia until 1 May 2022.
This extra time for remote practices to replace older medical imaging equipment will ensure that patients in remote areas can continue to receive Medicare benefits for diagnostic imaging.
On 1 May 2020, Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items and rules related to diagnostic imaging services were amended in line with the recommendations of the MBS Review Taskforce and the Medical Service Advisory Committee.
The changes ensure that diagnostic imaging services provided under Medicare are up to date and reflect best clinical practice.
As COVID-19 has impacted on these practices, the extra 12 month’ exemption will allow them more time to accrue finance and arrange new equipment, while ensuring that modernisation does occur.
The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that all Australians can access to safe, quality Medicare funded diagnostic imaging services, wherever they live.

Small businesses across Australia are getting support from the Morrison Government to cut energy costs, putting more money back in the pockets of business owners as we recover from COVID-19.
Through the Government’s Energy Efficient Communities Program, 336 small businesses have been awarded grants of up to $20,000 to lower their energy bills by upgrading to more energy efficient equipment, carrying out energy audits or installing energy monitoring equipment.
Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the Government was focused on bringing down the cost of energy for small businesses.
“Small businesses have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government is focused on helping them through this difficult period, and beyond,” Minister Taylor said.
“Energy bills are a significant overhead for many small businesses. These grants will help small businesses all around Australia pay less on their energy bills, helping them keep their doors open, expand their business and employ more Australians.”
Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Michaelia Cash said helping small businesses lower their energy costs is critical for them to prosper, grow and create more jobs.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our local communities and the backbone of the Australian economy. Employing over 6 million Australians, our 3.5 million small businesses contribute over $418 billion to our national economy,” Minister Cash said.
“As we recover from the impacts of COVID-19, small businesses will play a key role in the Government’s plan for a stronger economy”.
“Lowering energy bills for our small businesses through the Energy Efficient Communities Program will help alleviate financial pressure and deliver the conditions they need to succeed.”
The Energy Efficient Communities Program was announced as part of the Government’s $3.5 billion Climate Solutions Package to deliver on Australia’s 2030 climate commitments.
The full list of successful applicants for the small business grants is available on business.gov.au.

Australia has been confirmed as a climate pariah as the UN’s Climate Ambition Summit speaking list released today confirms the Prime Minister has been barred from speaking at the key international meeting.
The list also confirms the Prime Minister misled Parliament when he claimed he would be attending in the Summit.
The government this morning is also defying a Senate Order to release the rejection letter from the Summit organisers which would show the reasons why Australia has been barred.
Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said:
“Australia is now a climate pariah with the rest of the world turning their backs on us,” Mr Bandt said.
“The world is sending Scott Morrison a clear message that his weak 2030 targets are not enough to tackle the climate crisis.
“With Donald Trump on his way out, there is now nowhere left for Scott Morrison to hide.
“Australia now sits with Russia and Saudia Arabia in the club of climate deniers.
“World leaders recognize we are on track for climate catastrophe unless everyone lifts their ambition, but Scott Morrison refuses to do what’s needed to protect Australia and its people.
“The Prime Minister is now scrambling to create a fig leaf for his humiliation by using a Pacific Islands climate roundtable tonight to announce Australia would no longer cheat on its climate targets with so-called Kyoto credits.
“If he bullies the Pacific Island leaders like he did at the last Pacific Islands Forum, Scott Morrison risks further damaging our relationship with our neighbours.
“Committing to science-based 2030 targets and a green recovery would also help with our big problems with China.
“It is not too late for Australia. The Prime Minister should change course and join with President-elect Biden and Europe and lead the world in confronting the climate emergency.”
LIST OF CONFIRMED SPEAKERS ON 10 DECEMBER, 17:00
Afghanistan, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Ethiopia, European Union, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Luxembourg, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Zimbabwe
https://climateambitionsummit2020.org/

Last night’s global Climate Ambition Summit confirmed Australia’s status as the world’s climate reject. While Scott Morrison was barred from the Summit, world leaders lined up to announce ambitious new 2030 targets and action.
The Europe Union upped their 2030 target to 55% and the UK to 68%. Japan announced they would raise their targets next year and Canada released modelling showing they would beat their 2030 target.
The Summit opened with the UN Secretary General calling on all countries to declare a climate emergency, which was followed by a long list of leaders promising more strong action, from famous cricketer turned PM Imran Khan saying Pakistan would ban coal plants to Finland’s PM announcing carbon neutrality by 2035.
Lame duck President Donald Trump wasn’t there, but President-elect Joe Biden announced just beforehand that he would lead a further summit of the world’s major economies before April next year, which will further boost 2030 ambition ahead of the Glasgow climate talks in November next year.
Lines from Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP:
“Scott Morrison’s Australia is now the world’s climate reject,” Mr Bandt said.
“Scott Morrison’s weak 2030 target doesn’t just put lives at risk, it isolates Australia.
“The PM has isolated Australia, but he won’t be able to hide when Joe Biden calls together the key world economies by April next year.
“The Liberals now have no choice but to increase Australia’s 2030 climate targets in the next few months.
“The acid is also now on Labor, who continue to let Scott Morrison of the hook by failing to put forward their own 2030 targets.
“Both Liberal and Labor are failing the climate test. I call on Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese to join with the Australian Greens next year in declaring a climate emergency and a science-based target of 75% cut to pollution by 2030.”

New purpose-built teaching facilities that will train the next generation of rural GPs in Dubbo following the Morrison McCormack Government’s investment of more than $9 million to start construction.
Federal Regional Health Minister and Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton said the new facility will boost local training opportunities and in turn, improve the future distribution of Australia’s rural medical workforce.
“A strong rural health workforce is central to improving the health of people living in rural, regional and remote Australia,” Minister Coulton said.
“We also know that when students train in rural settings, they are more likely to live and work in the regions at the end of their studies.
“Improving access to health services and creating more training opportunities in rural communities is a priority for the Federal Nationals in Government.”
Minister Coulton said the Liberal and Nationals Government investment of $9.27 million to establish the new school included more than $7 million for the construction of the new facility at the University of Sydney’s School of Rural Health in Dubbo.
“The facilities at the new medical school will include a state of the art anatomy space including 2D and 3D visual technologies, virtual and augmented reality and 3D printing, learning studios, simulation space, service rooms, and amenities,” Minister Coulton said.
“The investment in the School of Rural Health is expected to directly benefit rural communities as well as boost local jobs in construction and strengthen the region’s future health workforce.”
The program will see GPs training at locations including Broken Hill, Balranald, Bourke, Brewarrina, Dareton, Lightning Ridge, Menindee, Walgett, Wentworth, Wilcannia, Gilgandra, Forbes and Wellington.
Sydney University has a vigorous selection process that targets applicants from rural origin and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status as well as those from the western, north western and far western NSW.  The new school is expecting its first cohort of medical students in January 2022.
The campus will be part of the Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network which enables medical students to stay in their communities while they study and train to become a doctor, increasing their likelihood of staying and working in rural areas. The school will provide an end-to-end approach to rural training.
Planning for the new medical school is well underway. Patterson Building Group will carry out the redevelopment, with completion scheduled for October next year.