Senator IAN CAMPBELL (5:18 PM) —I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard .

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

SOCIAL SECURITY (FAMILY ALLOWANCE AND RELATED MATTERS) LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 1999

This government recognises the integral role the family plays in Australian society. This government wants to improve the assistance that families can get through the tax and social security systems.

This bill amends the Social Security Act 1991 to introduce improvements to the assistance currently provided by government to families.

Specifically, this bill:

. extends qualification for family allowance so that it covers both job seekers and students who have turned l 6, and continues until age 21 for job seekers, and until age 25 for full-time students;

. increases the fortnightly rate of family allowance to $50, payable in respect of a young person who is aged 18 to under 21, or who is undertaking full-time study and is aged 21 to under 25; and

. ensures that certain young persons are not inadvertently deprived of a health care card by force of these amendments.

These amendments will commence with effect from 1 October 1999, and will provide assistance to families of $42 million in the 1999-2000 financial year, making a positive impact on the living standards of Australian families, particularly those with low incomes.

Complementary amendments to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Bill 1999 will take effect from the commencement of that act, that is 1 July 2000, to ensure the continuance of these changes under the government's tax reform package.

I commend the bill to the Senate.

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT (PROFESSIONAL SERVICES REVIEW) BILL 1999

Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review) Amendment Bill 1999 gives effect to a number of changes to the Professional Services Review Scheme (PSR). The PSR is the government's primary means of investigating allegations of inappropriate practice under Medicare or the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

The PSR commenced in July 1994, and has always enjoyed the support of all parties in this Parliament. I would like to thank the opposition and the other parties for their continued support of this legislation.

The changes contained in this bill have come in the wake of criticism of some aspects of from the Federal Court. A review was undertaken by a Committee chaired by the Australian Medical Association.

The review confirmed the profession's and the Government's continued support for a peer review based Scheme. The amendments to the act will enhance the administration of the Scheme to ensure that the process is fairer and more transparent.

The investigation and negotiation powers of the Director of the PSR will be increased. There will be greater legal support to the peer review committees and for the person under review. The Determining Officer, currently from the Department of Health and Aged Care, will be replaced with a Determining Authority. The Determining Authority will comprise a medical practitioner as the permanent chair, a permanent lay person and a third member who is a representative of the profession of the person under review. The PSR Tribunals will be removed from the process whilst retaining the right of review on points of law.

There will be a range of different methods contained in the substance of the bill, to investigate inappropriate practice.

For example, deeming provisions will apply to all consultation services on all days where the services exceed the number set out in the regulation. There will be provisions for exceptional circumstances. A finding of inappropriate practice can only be made under the deeming provisions within the committee peer review structure. These deeming provisions have been agreed to with the profession.

The changes will greatly enhance the profession's ability to decide what constitutes inappropriate practice. I wish to particularly commend the medical profession for its contribution to the development of this framework. This bill will strengthen the Scheme and address the deficiencies identified by the Courts.

Medicare is one of the largest programs administered by the Federal Government, costing around $7 billion this year. We need to protect this investment. The Review Committee found that both suspension from Medicare and repayment of Medicare benefits should be applied in circumstances where there has been consistent rorting. The Government endorses this view.

With the improvement of natural justice principles in the bill, it is proposed that avenues of appeal to Professional Services Review Tribunals be abolished. This recognises that peer review is the basis of the Scheme. The person under review will have full rights to seek judicial review at any stage of the process.

The bill also addresses the question of the adequacy of practice records maintained by practitioners under review. From 1 November 1999, a practitioner appearing before a Committee will need to demonstrate that his or her medical records are adequate and accessible.

The new arrangements will be introduced in such a way as to not disadvantage any practitioner whose conduct has already been referred to the PSR. Where a referral has been made by the Health Insurance Commission to the Director under the existing legislation, the inquiry will be conducted and concluded under the rules that currently apply.

This legislation strengthens a Scheme that has always enjoyed the full support of this Parliament. With such an investment in Medicare, all Governments over the last five years have agreed a Professional Services Review Scheme is necessary.

PROTECTION OF MOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE AMENDMENT BILL 1999

Australia's heritage comprises more than our built and natural environment, our traditions and languages. It is also the objects we create or collect, known as our movable cultural heritage. This might include anything from artworks to fossils, historic manuscripts to steam engines, Aboriginal sacred/secret material to Don Bradman's cricket bat.

The most significant of these items are defined as `Australian protected objects' and their export is regulated by the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. Without limiting general international trade in cultural commodities, the objective of the act is to ensure that our most precious heritage items are not lost to the nation.

The act provides for the establishment of a National Cultural Heritage Fund to facilitate the acquisition of Australian protected objects. It was envisaged that the responsible Minister could provide grants from the Fund to assist a public cultural institution such as a museum or archive to purchase a cultural item which cannot be exported because its export would be of great cultural loss to Australia.

The Fund would therefore help to provide public access to these significant cultural items and, as part of permanent collections, to keep them available for the delight and education of future generations of Australians.

Further, people who own an item for which an export permit has been refused will have more opportunity to sell the item to a public museum or comparable institution for a fair market price. The act could then operate more equitably.

The previous Government, however, never provided an appropriation to allow the Fund to come into operation. More than ten years after the commencement of the act, the Fund is still no more than an empty provision in the act.

This Government is redressing the oversight. $0.5 million is to be allocated to establish the National Cultural Heritage Account from the 1999-2000 Budget appropriation for the administered expenses for the outcome `a cultural environment that enriches the lives of all Australians'. It is expected that the account will be maintained at that level over time.

In order to operate the Account, however, it is necessary to replace outdated references to the Audit Act 1901 and to bring the financial arrangements into line with the regime established by the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.

The bill therefore repeals section 25 of the act relating to the National Cultural Heritage Fund and replaces it with three new provisions relating to the National Cultural Heritage Account, which will be a Special Account for the purposes of the Financial Management and Accountability Act. The bill makes a number of other minor consequential amendments necessitated by this change.

AGED CARE AMENDMENT (OMNIBUS) BILL 1999

The commencement of the Aged Care Act on 1 October 1997 saw the implementation of legislation that guarantees an aged care system that maintains the comfort and dignity of older Australians in a way that is viable and sustainable.

I am very pleased to introduce today the Aged Care Amendment (Omnibus) Bill 1999, which will introduce further resident protections, implement an election commitment and improve administration of the act.

The bill is further proof of the Government's commitment to achieving excellence in care for older Australians in residential care. This commitment has been demonstrated by the increased outlays on residential care under this Government, by the growth in care places and by the recognition of the complex care needs of residents of aged care facilities. The bill further extends the work already done by the Government to improve the residential aged care system in Australia.

The Government remains committed to bringing about real improvement to nursing homes, too many of which were simply not in a condition when we entered Government to provide a safe, comfortable and dignified home for older Australians. They deserve better.

The accommodation charge takes account of the special circumstances of nursing home level residents, and maintains the principle of people making a contribution to improving the quality of their accommodation where they can afford to do so. Protections exist for those residents who are unable to contribute in this way.

There are no changes to the quantum or the nature of the accommodation charges, which have been operating since 6 November 1997 through subordinate legislation. This bill formalises those measures in principal legislation to ensure a range of resident protection measures for accommodation charges, in line with those currently applying to accommodation bonds.

The bill also ensures that where a nursing home level resident chooses to rent out a former family home to pay for the accommodation charge, the rental income earned does not affect their pension entitlements. This means that a resident can retain the full pension while earning rental income. This bill amends the Social Security Act and the Veteran's Entitlement's Act to exclude this rental income and the value of the property from the pension income and assets test.

The new measures will also maintain, but through principal legislation, flexibility and choice for older Australians who move between different types of residential care. Where residents have previously paid a bond in a hostel, and would prefer to roll over this bond when they move to a nursing home instead of paying an accommodation charge, they will continue to have the option of agreeing with the provider to roll over the bond.

Concessional residents, or those who qualify under the hardship provisions, will not be required to pay any accommodation charge. In addition, this bill widens the definition of concessional resident, to enable more older Australians to be classed as concessional residents and to ensure that they will not be asked to pay an accommodation bond or charge.

The bill extends many of the consumer protections that currently apply to accommodation bonds to also cover accommodation charges, and requires aged care providers to meet a range of responsibilities in relation to the charge.

This bill also implements the Government's 1999 Budget commitment to protect those older Australians who were in a nursing home when the Aged Care Act 1997 was introduced from paying an accommodation charge if they later move to another nursing home. Those nursing home residents who were in care at that time and who have moved or will move to another home will now be exempted from paying the accommodation charge.

People who were residents of a nursing home when the Aged Care Act 1997 was introduced and who have moved and paid a charge in another home will be refunded for the accommodation charges they have already paid. These refunds will not affect their pension entitlements.

Providers will not only be reimbursed for the amount lost in refunded accommodation charges but will be more than compensated through the maximum rate of concessional resident supplement.

The Government also remains committed to those who devote themselves to caring for older people in their own homes. The bill reduces from 5 to 2 years the period during which a resident's home must have been occupied by a carer in order for the resident to qualify as a concessional or assisted resident. This change will make it easier for residents to qualify, and attract a higher level of Government subsidy. It will also mean that carers will be able to remain in the family home—further recognising the vital role that carers play.

The bill also addresses anomalies in the Aged Care Act 1997 in relation to the revocation of approved provider status and the imposition of sanctions for breaches of provider responsibilities under the previous legislation. Provisions will be introduced which will enable the Commonwealth to take strong and decisive action against those providers, for example, who have been convicted of serious crimes, such as the abuse of residents or fraud. The Government is committed to ensuring that only those providers who meet their responsibilities will be able to provide care to the most frail and vulnerable in our society.

It has also come to the attention of the Government that the responsibilities of providers in relation to the kinds of fees intending residents can be asked to pay needs to be clarified. The bill makes it very clear that intending residents cannot be asked to pay fees until after they have agreed to accept a place, following notification of a place being available.

The bill makes provision for a number of other important changes to ensure better protection for both residents and providers. Concessional resident status is extended to cover residents whose home is occupied by dependent grandchildren. The bill allows for the extension of time limits for entering an agreement for those residents who wish to appoint a guardian to handle their affairs. The bill also provides for extensions to approvals in principles for additional recurrent funding, where providers need to additional time to improve their facilities.

These issues are the result of the Government listening to and responding to these issues. We have acted in a sensitive way to keep the benefits of the aged care reforms flowing to residents, now and in the future.

The amendments clarify and improve the current arrangements set out in the Aged Care Act 1997—the legislation that has seen the most comprehensive and significant reform to the provision of aged care services in Australia over the last decade. This legislation, that by encouraging innovation, flexibility and creativity in service delivery and planning, will maintain the provision of appropriate, responsive and quality aged care into the next century.

Debate (on motion by Senator O'Brien) adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.