Author: admin

In response to the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the Morrison Government will deliver a $17.7 billion package of support and a once in a generation reform to aged care to deliver respect, care and dignity to our senior Australians.
Senior Australians built our nation. They are our parents and grandparents, our founders and protectors, and they have contributed so much to our Australian communities.
It is our duty and responsibility to give every Australian the care they need in their later years.
This investment of an additional $17.7 billion will deliver generational change with improved quality care, increased viability in the sector with services respecting the needs and choices of senior Australians. It is also the largest investment in aged care.
We welcome the final report of the Royal Commission and have founded our response on the principles of respect, care and dignity.
The Morrison Government is, therefore, responding to the Royal Commission with its five year – five pillar aged care reform plan addressing:

• Home care – at home support and care based on assessed needs
• Residential aged care services and sustainability – improving service suitability that ensures individual care needs and preferences are met
• Residential aged care quality and safety – improving access to and quality of residential care
• Workforce – growing a bigger, more highly skilled, caring and values based workforce; and
• Governance – new legislation and stronger governance

The Government thanks Commissioners, the Hon Tony Pagone QC, Lynelle Briggs AO and the late Hon Richard Tracey AM RFD QC, for their efforts delivering one of the most important documents in the history of aged care in Australia.
In responding to the 148 recommendations, of which 123 were joint, and 25 were specific to the individual Commissioners requiring a decision by Government, the Morrison Government has accepted or accepted in principle 126 recommendations. In addition, the Government supports instead an alternative on four of the recommendations. Twelve recommendations were subject to further consideration or noted in the government response. Six were not accepted, including four which note the discordant views of the Commissioners.
The key elements of the Morrison Government’s response include:

• Pillar 1 of the Royal Commission Response – Home Care: $7.5 billion towards supporting senior Australians who choose to remain in their home, including:
  • $6.5 billion for an additional 80,000 Home Care Packages – 40,000 released in 2021–22 and 40,000 in 2022–23, which will make a total of 275,598 packages available to senior Australians by June 2023
  • $10.8 million to design and plan a new support in home care program which better meets the needs of senior Australians
  • $798.3 million to support the 1.6 million informal carers, including additional respite services for 8,400 senior Australians each year, and
  • $272.5 million for enhanced support and face-to-face services to assist senior Australians accessing and navigating the aged care system.
• Pillar 2 of the Royal Commission Response – Residential aged care services and sustainability: $7.8 billion towards improving and simplifying residential aged care services and to ensure senior Australians can access value for money services, including:
  • $3.9 billion to increase the amount of front line care (care minutes) delivered to residents of aged care and respite services, mandated at 200 minutes per day, including 40 minutes with a registered nurse
  • $3.2 billion to support aged care providers to deliver better care and services, including food through a new Government-funded Basic Daily Fee Supplement of $10 per resident per day
  • $102.1 million to assign residential aged care places directly to senior Australians, and to support providers to adjust to a more competitive market
  • $49.1 million to expand the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to help ensure that aged care costs are directly related to the care provided
  • $189.3 million for a new Australian National Aged Care Classification to deliver a fairer and more sustainable funding arrangements, and
  • $5.5 million to reform residential aged care design and planning to better meet the needs of senior Australians, particularly those living with dementia.
• Pillar 3 of the Royal Commission Response – Residential aged care quality and safety: $942 million to drive systemic improvements to residential aged care quality and safety, including:
  • $365.7 million to improve access to primary care for senior Australians, including the transition of senior Australians between aged care and health care setting and improved medication management
  • $262.5 million to ensure the independent regulator, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC), is well equipped to safeguard the quality, safety and integrity of aged care services and can effectively address failures in care
  • $7.3 million for additional resources to build capacity within residential aged care for the care of senior Australians living with dementia
  • $67.5 million for the Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service and the Severe Behaviour Response Teams to further reduce reliance on physical and chemical restraint (restrictive practices), and
  • $200.1 million to introduce a new star rating system to highlight the quality of aged care services, better informing senior Australians, their families and carers, including
    • $94.0 million to expand independent advocacy to support greater choice and quality safeguards for senior Australians.
• Pillar 4 of the Royal Commission Response – Workforce: $652.1 million to grow a skilled, professional and compassionate aged care workforce, which will be the powerhouse of the Government’s reform agenda, including:
  • upskilling the existing workforce and providing training for thousands of new aged care workers, including 33,800 subsidised Vocational Education and Training places through JobTrainer.
  • $228.2 million to create a single assessment workforce to undertake all assessments that will improve and simplify the assessment experience for senior Australians as they enter or progress within the aged care system
  • $135.6 million to provide eligible Registered Nurses with financial support of $3,700 for full time workers, and $2,700 for part time workers, nursing scholarships and places in the Aged Care Transition to Practice Program; and
  • $9.8 million to extend the national recruitment campaign, to help increase the skilled and dedicated aged care workforce.
• Pillar 5 of the Royal Commission Response – Governance: $698.3 million to improve the governance across the aged care system. This will embed respect, care and dignity at the heart of the system, guaranteeing better choice, high quality and safe care for senior Australians, including:
  • $21.1 million to establish new governance and advisory structures, including a National Aged Care Advisory Council, and a Council of Elders, and to work towards establishment of an office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care
  • $630.2 million to improve access to quality aged care services for consumers in regional, rural and remote areas including those with First Nations backgrounds and special needs groups
  • $13.4 million to improve rural and regional stewardship of aged care, with Department of Health aged care officers embedded within eight of the 31 Primary Health Network regions, and
  • The drafting of a new Aged Care Act to enshrine the Government’s reforms in legislation by mid-2023.

The initiatives outlined within the Morrison Government’s five pillars response will be introduced through a five year plan in response to the Royal Commission.
Phase One (2021) will see the Morrison Government focus on setting the foundations for generational change, commencing with key structural and governance change across the aged care system, building the workforce, and addressing immediate priorities across each of the five pillars:
2021

• Home care
• Residential aged care services and sustainability
  • Supplement ($10 Basic Daily Fee) and continue Viability Supplements
  • Independent Pricing Authority
  • Begin phasing in enhanced financial and prudential oversight
• Residential aged care quality and safety
  • Improve Quality Standards for dementia, diversity, food, nutrition
  • Enhanced regulatory and monitoring powers of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to improve clinical standards
  • Additional GP services and access available for aged care residents
• Workforce
  • Additional training places provided for new and existing aged care workers
  • Scholarships to attract nurses and personal care workers
  • Additional advocacy, dementia and palliative care training
• Governance
  • Council of the Elders
  • Inspector-General of Aged Care
  • Funding uplift for MPS and NATSIFAC residential care

Phase Two (2022–2023), the Morrison Government will be rebuilding institutions across the sector ensuring their resolute focus on the dignity, care and respect for senior Australians.
We will develop and pass new legislation and embed regulation with a focus on high quality support for older people, which is simpler to access and better tailored to the needs of the individual. We will reform funding arrangements and make significant changes to service delivery. We will continue to enhance workforce capability, and improve the culture in aged care.
2022

• Home care
• Residential aged care services and sustainability
• Residential aged care quality and safety
  • Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) expanded to home and community care
  • Reporting of staffing hours
  • Enhanced financial reporting transparency
  • Worker screening (workforce register) and code of conduct introduced
  • Stage one implementation of Star Ratings
• Workforce
  • Single assessment workforce model implemented in residential care
  • Financial incentive payments for registered nurses
  • Additional training places provided for new and existing workers, including 6,000 new personal care workers and 33,800 additional training places for personal care workers to attain a Certificate III
• Governance
  • Procurement of Indigenous care finders

• • Transition to AN-ACC funding model
  • Increase in the residential funding base

2023

• Home care
• Residential aged care services and sustainability
  • Mandatory care time (200 care minutes)
• Residential aged care quality and safety
  • National Aged Care Minimum Dataset to improve information metrics about aged care
  • Expanded National Mandatory Quality Indicator Program (NMQIP)
• Workforce
  • Single assessment workforce model implemented in home care
  • Additional training places provided for new and existing personal care workers to attain a Certificate III
• Governance
  • New Aged Care Act commences

Phase Three (2024–2025) will begin to realise the vision of a high-quality and safe aged care system. We will deliver an aged care system that places the needs of senior Australians at its core. Most of all, our care system will treat our senior Australians with dignity, care and respect.
2024

• Home care
• Residential aged care services and sustainability
  • Reformed residential aged care accommodation framework implemented
  • Discontinue the Aged Care Approvals Round process from 1 July 2024
• Residential aged care quality and safety
  • Full implementation of Star Ratings

2025

• Residential aged care services and sustainability
• Governance
  • Strong and effective governance of aged care is in place with senior Australians at the center and improved care outcomes consistently delivered.

The Commonwealth Government will provide $146 million over four years for the first phase of a new National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse.
The Strategy will be a 10 year, whole-of-nation framework to establish a coordinated and consistent approach to prevent and better respond to child sexual abuse in Australia.
“Every child deserves safety and protection and today’s new measures will prevent, detect and respond to child sexual abuse committed within Australia, online, and by Australians overseas,” the Prime Minister said.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ben Morton, said measures being announced today will lay the foundation for the landmark new National Strategy, which will be released in full in September 2021.
“The Commonwealth has a leadership and coordination role in tackling child sexual abuse, and many of these measures address our responsibilities under the Commonwealth Criminal Code,” Assistant Minister Morton said.
“These measures will deliver on commitments made in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
“Any sexual crime against a child is one too many, and this National Strategy aims to deliver ambitious and world-leading measures to prevent all forms of child sexual abuse.”
The National Strategy will complement and align with other national policy frameworks, such as the current and future National Plans to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, and Closing the Gap.
Key initiatives include:

• $59.9. million worth of initiatives to be delivered by the Australian Federal Police to combat child sexual abuse, including an additional $35.4 million for new frontline operational activities to keep our children safe.
• $13.9 million to bolster the capabilities of AUSTRAC, the Australian Institute of Criminology, the Australian Border Force, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and the Department of Home Affairs to equip intelligence, research and border protection agencies to disrupt the cash flow behind child sexual abuse, prevent and disrupt livestreamed child sexual abuse, intercept material and offenders at the border, and enhance our ability to identify offenders within the community.
• $4.1 million for the Department of Home Affairs to work with Indo-Pacific partners on regional policy and legislative responses to child sexual abuse.
• $2.95 million to help the Department of Home Affairs build relationships with the digital industry to drive a coordinated and collaborative charge against offenders’ exploitation of online platforms to commit child sexual abuse related crimes.
• $24.1 million to strengthen Commonwealth capacity to prosecute perpetrators of child sexual abuse.
• $16.8 million for the Attorney-General’s Department to enhance and expand legal assistance concerning child sexual abuse.
• $10.9 million for the National Indigenous Australians Agency to co-design place-based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing approaches to support survivors of child sexual abuse.

• $4.7 million for Sport Integrity Australia to enhance child safeguarding in sport.

• $3.0 million to the eSafety Commissioner to deliver targeted online education programs to support parents and families to prevent online harms to children.
• $5 million to expand the National Office for Child Safety’s national leadership role to deliver the National Strategy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse.

Further announcements will be made with the full National Strategy, including additional measures to be jointly delivered by the Commonwealth and its state and territory partners.
The Australian Government is working with states and territories as well as non-government stakeholders to finalise the National Strategy for release in September 2021. For more information, visit: https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/.

The Morrison-McCormack Government is securing Australia’s recovery through significant commitments to strengthen our communications, media and creative arts sectors, helping to rebuild our economy, secure jobs and support communities as we continue our resurgence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Digital service delivery has become more important than ever, with many sectors rapidly digitising over the past year to meet the demands of home-based work. This is why the Government’s Digital Economy Strategy plays a central role in the 2021-22 Budget, as we establish an enduring program to connect Australians and keep them safe online.
This Budget also recognises the challenges the pandemic has created for our arts sector, with significant support being delivered to help Australia’s national cultural institutions and the broader arts sector position for stronger roles in a post-COVID world.
The Government’s investments as part of its plan to secure Australia’s recovery include:

• $5.2 million for an awareness campaign to better support victims of online abuse and harm;
• $84.8 million for improved connectivity in the regions through the Regional Connectivity Program;
• $68.5 million for a dedicated stream of funding for Northern Australia under the Regional Connectivity Program and Mobile Black Spot Program;
• $16.4 million for better mobile connectivity in bushfire-prone areas on the fringe of our cities;
• $18.8 million over four years from 2021 22 for a Digital Games Tax Offset
• $8 million for community broadcasting;
• $15 million to the AAP Newswire in support of public interest journalism in regional Australia;
• $7.7 million to help consumers select reliable, high speed broadband services that meet their needs;
• $4.2 million to implement the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code;
• $85.4 million for eight national collecting institutions; and
• $11.9 million over four years to boost quality children’s television content.

Communications and the Digital Economy
Improving Online Safety
Under the Morrison Government’s new Online Safety Act, there will be new and strengthened schemes to help Australians stay safe online. This includes a new adult cyber abuse scheme for Australian adults; an expanded cyberbullying scheme for Australian children and an enhanced image-based abuse scheme which addresses the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
The Government will invest an additional $5.2 million to alert Australians to the help available to them by informing the community of the new and strengthened schemes to keep them safe online.
Australia is at the forefront of online safety policy and regulation. The Online Safety Act will bolster Australia’s world-leading online safety framework by creating new and strengthened schemes to keep Australians safe when things go wrong online.
Improving Regional Connectivity
The Government will build on the success of the Regional Connectivity Program by committing a further $84.8 million to the Program, opening up new opportunities for regional businesses, communities and regional services such as health and education.
The Program complements the NBN and the Government’s highly successful Mobile Black Spot Program by targeting the delivery of new and improved access to broadband and mobile connectivity in areas of high economic and social value outside of the NBN fixed-line footprint.
The first round of the program is providing $90.3 million (GST inc) in funding towards 81 telecommunications infrastructure projects. Successful applicants included local councils, major telecommunications companies, regional businesses, community groups, educational facilities and fixed wireless providers.
Projects funded under the program will provide communities in regional Australia with access to improved broadband services and data, delivering fast, affordable and reliable connectivity.
The Government will also enhance digital connectivity in Northern Australia by providing $68.5 million of dedicated funding for digital technology solutions in Northern Australia through the Regional Connectivity Program and Mobile Black Spot Program.
Connecting and protecting communities on the urban fringe
The Government will invest $16.4 million to establish the Peri-Urban Mobile Program to improve mobile connectivity in bushfire prone areas on the peri-urban fringe of our major cities.
The peri-urban fringe is where the bush meets the suburbs, presenting a major bushfire risk to those who live and work in those areas.
By improving mobile coverage in these areas, communities will be able to receive vital information during emergencies, seek help if needed and stay in touch with loved ones.
On a day-to-day basis, the program will improve connectivity for these communities, contributing to the local economy through lifting productivity, capability and investment.
The Peri-Urban Mobile Program will provide grant funding to Mobile Network Operators and infrastructure providers to deploy new mobile phone infrastructure to upgrade mobile reception and coverage issues in these areas.
Digital Games Tax Offset
As part of the Digital Economy Strategy, the Government is providing $18.8 million over four years from 2021 22 for a new Digital Games Tax Offset. This will provide a 30 per cent refundable tax offset for qualifying Australian digital games expenditure ongoing from 1 July 2022, with the criteria and definition of qualifying expenditure to be determined through industry consultation.
This measure will drive investment and growth in the sector, as well as help attract and build the creative digital skills needed in the economy, helping Australia to take a greater share of the approximately $250 billion global video games development market.
Community Broadcasting
The Government will provide an additional $8 million over two years to the Community Broadcasting Foundation as part of the Community Broadcasting Program
The community radio sector has made a valuable contribution to Australians throughout the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic. This additional support will help to boost development and operational funding, support sustainability and capability for the sector, and allow it to manage the ongoing economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia’s 450 community radio broadcasters will benefit from this measure.
Continued support for public interest journalism in regional Australia
The Government will provide additional funding of $15 million over two years to the Australian Associated Press Newswire (AAP), starting in the 2020-21 financial year. The funding will support AAP’s continued provision of newswire services, consisting of regional, national and international news, to regional media outlets across Australia. This allows regional media businesses to concentrate on covering local news stories that are important to their communities.
The funding is consistent with the objectives of the Public Interest News Gathering (PING) Program to support regional journalism and builds on the Government’s existing support to the newswire service. The measure will bring the total support to AAP to $20 million. AAP’s existing PING agreement will be updated to reflect the increase in funding and new grant activities. The first payment of $7.5 million will be paid before 30 June 2021.
Helping Australians access the right broadband services
The Government will support the continued delivery of the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for an additional four years at a cost of $7.7 million that will be recovered in full via the Annual Carrier Licence Charge.
The program will continue to help consumers select reliable, high speed fixed-line broadband services that meet their needs, and will extend these benefits to additional regional and emerging market segments by including fixed wireless broadband services.
The importance of the program’s renewal is accentuated by the launch of new higher speed NBN products and increased reliance on broadband due to COVID-19.
News Media Bargaining Code
The Australian Government has introduced the world-leading News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code to address the bargaining power imbalance between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms, and to support a diverse and sustainable news media sector in Australia.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has several important functions under the Code, including registering news businesses, and maintaining a register of arbitrators.
Additional funding of $4.2 million over three years from 2020-21will be provided to ACMA in this Budget to enable the regulator to discharge its responsibilities.
Creative and Cultural Sector
As part of our plan to secure Australia’s recovery, the Government has invested almost $300 million to support the successful reopening of Australia’s creative and cultural sector. These measures include:
$125.6 million for further Restart Investment and Sustain Expand (RISE) grants will provide competitive seed funding for new productions, festivals and events to support the successful re-opening of Australia’s creative and cultural sector.
$50.8 million to extend the Temporary Interruption Fund used by the screen industry until 31 December 2021. The fund is helping to support local film and television producers secure finance and start filming again.
$20 million in grants providing support to our independent cinemas through the Supporting Cinemas’ Retention Endurance and Enhancement initiative (SCREEN)
$75 million to reinstate the Producer Offset Rate for film set to 40 per cent as an ongoing measure for Australian film of creative and cultural significance.
$20 million to various arts organisations including $10 million for the music charity Support Act, and $5 million to support national performing arts touring.
$11.4 million to support the recovery of regional arts events in 2021-22.
More support for our National Cultural Institutions
The Government will provide additional funding of $85.4 million to our National Collecting Institutions to improve their financial sustainability and enable them to undertake a variety of capital works so that we can continue to preserve and enjoy Australia’s cultural heritage.
Additional funding of $32.4 million over two years will be provided to eight National Collecting Institutions to improve their financial sustainability and enable them to deliver public services and programs. The Australian National Maritime Museum, Bundanon Trust, Museum of Australian Democracy, National Film and Sound Archive, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia and National Portrait Gallery of Australia will be the beneficiaries of this funding.
The Government will also provide additional funding of $47.5 million to our national cultural institutions for a variety of capital works so that we can continue to preserve and enjoy Australia’s cultural heritage.
This includes funding of $28.6 million to the National Gallery of Australia to replace end-of-life capital assets to improve the safety of staff and visitors and support the ongoing care of the Gallery’s collection valued at $6.2 billion.
Funding of $9 million over two years will also be provided to the Australian National Maritime Museum, Bundanon Trust and the National Library of Australia to deliver safety related capital works. This will include safety improvements to public thoroughfares and replacement of fire safety systems at the Australian National Maritime Museum, restoration of the Bundanon Homestead, maintenance of the Boyd Education Centre, and support for the replacement of the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning system at the National Library of Australia.
Funding of $5.5 million over four years will also be provided to establish and sustain an additional exhibition in the Museum of Australian Democracy.
Children’s Television
Further funding of $11.9 million over four years from 2021-22 and $3.0 million ongoing, will be provided to the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) to support the development and distribution of quality Australian children’s content. This is in addition to the funding of $20.2 million over two years provided in the 2020-21 Budget.
ACTF has played a pivotal role in the success of iconic Australian programs, such as Round the Twist and Dance Academy, and more recent productions including Bluey, Hardball and Little J and Big Cuz.
This funding will enable ACTF to support producers of children’s content to transition as the Government modernises the regulatory and funding framework that underpins Australian content. It will also assist ACTF to continue their role in helping producers capitalise on interest from streaming services to commission and acquire quality Australian children’s content.
Through these significant investments in the 2021-22 Budget, the Government is securing Australia’s recovery by supporting job creation and an economic revival across sectors hit hard by the pandemic.

The Australian Greens have welcomed today’s release of the positive evaluation of Our Watch’s primary school education program, Respectful Relationships Education to Prevent Gender-Based Violence, and called on the government to fund a national roll out.
Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for women, Senator Larissa Waters said: 
“Spoiler alert, evidence-based respectful relationships education works – not milkshake metaphors.
“Our Watch’s pilot programs in Queensland and Victoria, delivering age appropriate, whole-of-school and evidence-based respectful relationships, have been evaluated as successful.
“To address the crisis of violence against women and girls, the federal government should fund a national rollout of Our Watch’s program. All students, no matter which school they attend should get the benefit of learning about respect, gender equality and not letting their career aspirations be limited by their gender.
“Wasting millions of public dollars on an ineffective and confusing milkshake video was shameful, when that money should be spent on programs with proven outcomes.
“The Respect@Work report recommendations, accepted by this government, called for investment in expert-designed, whole-of-school respectful relationships programs to help end the cycle of violence by addressing what lies behind it – gender stereotypes and gender inequality.
“The PM now needs follow through in next week’s budget and include $190 million to support a national roll out of Our Watch’s effective respectful relationships training program.”
Greens spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said:
“The government has a bad track record on respectful relationships education, but funding a national rollout of Our Watch’s program would be a big step in the right direction.
“Urgent investment is required in whole-of-school programs that tackle the issues clearly and are known to work.
“School education is as much about ensuring young people become respectful members of the community as it is about learning the ‘hard’ skills and knowledge required for the modern world.”