Senator GIBBS (6:58 PM) —I rise to speak on a subject I regard as extremely important to aged care residents and the nurses who care for them. In particular, I advise the Senate of a serious incident that is happening in Queensland at the moment. I am sure most senators would be interested to know whether this is also happening in their own state.

On 14 January 1999, nurses working for the Queensland aged care provider Churches of Christ received a letter advising that the majority of nursing staff are to be reclassified as aged care workers at its Fairhaven, Maryborough and Hervey Bay facilities. This will come into effect on 29 March 1999, and nurses are yet to be told how their roles will be affected after that date.

The Churches of Christ organisation has declared that a nursing model is no longer to be used to care for high-care nursing home residents and that a `hostel' service delivery model will be used. According to the Queensland nurses union, not only will resident care be jeopardised but also nurses' conditions of employment will decline dramatically.

The actions of the Churches of Christ organisation are in direct contravention of the Aged Care Principles 1997—Quality of Care, part 3, item 3.8, Nursing Services, which states:

Initial and ongoing assessment, planning and management of care for residents, carried out by a registered nurse. Nursing services carried out by a registered nurse, or other professional appropriate to the service (eg. Medical practitioner, stoma therapist, speech pathologist, physiotherapist or qualified practitioner from a palliative care team).

The Aged Care Principles have been flagrantly breached by the Churches of Christ organisation. The reclassification of current employees has implications that will be felt by residents in nursing homes across Queensland for many years to come. Essentially, the employer has used a rebuilding and construction program at Fairhaven Maryborough and the relocation of 20 high care residents to its Fairhaven Hervey Bay facility as the justification for the reclassification of its nursing staff.

The reclassification undertaken by the Churches of Christ organisation involves the abolition of the nursing classifications of `enrolled nurse' and `assistant in nursing'. These nurses will be reclassified as `aged care workers'. Fundamentally, the effect of this is to transfer their entitlements from the Nurses Aged Care Interim Award—State to two non-nursing certified agreements. Indeed, the job description of an aged care worker is identical to that of an AIN. Hence, the reclassification in itself is nothing but a sham. It is a shabby, transparent exercise designed specifically to cut wages and conditions and to remove the professional status and identity of nurses.

The reclassification for AINs will mean a loss of wages, shift penalties, one week's annual leave and their title as `assistant in nursing'. For enrolled nurses the picture is particularly bleak. They will lose up to $3,500 each year in wages in addition to a loss of shift penalties, annual leave and job title. Even more devastating are the implications for the long-term career prospects of the nurses. If the enrolled nurses remain employed as aged care workers for three years, they will lose their level of entitlement and, if they ever return to work as enrolled nurses, they will be on the lowest classification and pay point. Any absence from designated nursing employment for five years or more will result in the loss of their licence to practise.

Clearly, the Churches of Christ organisation sees no need to retain skilled nursing staff to care for people in their nursing homes, despite the specifications of the aged care principles. They are using the current legislation to downgrade their staff so they can make a fast buck.

The long-term implications of the reclassification are even more frightening for residents. As their current nurses gradually leave to avoid deregistration, these elderly people will have to rely on staff who are inadequately trained and unqualified to care for their needs. This situation is an absolute disgrace, both from the nurses' and the residents' perspective.

As senators would know, the work that the nurses currently undertake is absolutely vital and fundamental to providing a decent level of care for residents in these facilities. Nursing home residents in particular are dependent on their nurses to help them with the basic activities of daily life. These duties will still need to be attended to after 29 March, but we can assume that nurses' time will then be constrained by additional duties, primarily domestic. If this is not the case and nurses are to carry on as usual, how can the Churches of Christ organisation justify the reclassification of their roles?

After the reclassification, standards of care for residents in these facilities will decline rapidly. Evidence provided to the Queensland nurses union has revealed that nursing duties will subsequently be undertaken by people with no knowledge, skills or training to do this work. An illiterate domestic who has worked 30 years as a cleaner will be undertaking nursing duties. A domestic with 15 years experience as a cleaner will also be undertaking nursing duties. A former receptionist-administrative officer will be undertak ing nursing duties at the Hervey Bay facility. I find it particularly disturbing that the employer has not even initiated any training for these staff who will, in effect, be expected to work as qualified nurses.

Staff have also been advised that they will be required to administer medications without the proper authority. If this is not a frightening enough prospect, these people are not even to be supervised by the remaining registered nurses. The employer has advised that registered nurses will work only as team members without any authority to delegate, direct or supervise the care that has always been the work of nursing staff. This is absolutely ludicrous and a potential for disaster.

The union has also been advised that the ongoing assessment, planning and management of care for residents will now be undertaken by non-registered nursing staff. This action is in direct contravention of the Quality of Care Amendment Principles, clause 3.8, which specifies that such duties must be undertaken by a registered nurse. These principles were established to protect residents and must be upheld if these people are to maintain any quality of life.

It is distressing that we are now faced with a situation where the quality of care being provided to nursing home residents is being compromised. Aged care in Australia should never be allowed to regress to the situation before 1984, as highlighted at the time by the Giles report. However, this government has presided over legislative changes that are already making these scenes a reality.

The reclassification of nursing staff by the Churches of Christ organisation will no doubt be replicated all over the country if the government refuses to intervene. We will have residents receiving injections from people who cannot explain why they are giving them. No doubt there will be many more instances of neglect, while a lack of proper planning will mean that services decline even further in the long term.

The government was warned of these consequences during the debate when this bill was before the Senate. The accommodation bonds were introduced to ensure that facilities and services in nursing homes could be improved and brought up to scratch, but it is becoming obvious that certain unscrupulous organisations are now flouting the very safeguards put in place to protect residents. All they want to do is take the money and run.

The Minister for Aged Care must act now to amend this legislation; otherwise, the role of nurses in aged care facilities will be removed forever. If this is allowed to occur, Australia's aged care sector will once again become a source of misery for residents, bringing shame on the government and the wider community.