The Australian Greens are calling on Government to act with a sense of urgency on the Interim Aged Care Royal Commission report findings saying Australians expect them to.

“These issues are not a surprise to Government, they have been raised time and time again, it is obvious more money has been needed for home care packages, there has been repeated calls to eliminate the use of restraints and a number of inquiries into young people in nursing homes.

The Government can do something about the use of chemical and physical restraints in aged care right now, by immediately amending the Quality of Care Amendment (Minimising the Use of Restraints) Principles 2019 tabled in Parliament by Government earlier this year.
 
"The regulation is currently before the Senate in the form of a disallowable instrument.
 
"The regulation is overwhelming considered by stakeholders to be flawed and it is feared that the regulation could lead to an increased use of chemical restraints.
 

The Australian Greens are calling on the Senate to reject the harmful and dangerous Government proposal to drug test income support recipients in trial areas because of the overwhelming evidence of the damage it will cause to individuals and our communities. 
 
“The stigma experienced by people with addiction will be further compounded through this trial by subjecting participants to compulsory income management. It will be incredibly damaging and health and addiction experts have consistently opposed this approach”, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 

The Human Rights Watch Fading Away  - How Aged Care Facilities in Australia Chemically Restrain Older People with Dementia report has called on the Government to end the use of chemical restraints as a means of controlling the behaviour of older people in aged care.
 
The Australian Greens have moved to disallow the Quality of Care Amendment (Minimising the Use of Restraints) Principles 2019 which is the legislative instrument regulating the use of chemical restraints in aged care facilities. The report reinforces the need to rethink the approach in the new regulation.

The Senate has today passed another motion in anti-poverty week calling on the Government to raise the rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance urgently.
 
"The calls to increase Newstart are absolutely overwhelming, today we have the “Newstart Nannas” who have come all the way to Canberra because they know how important an increase of Newstart is to our community.
 
"Over 50 percent of people on Newstart are over the age of 45, if we don’t increase Newstart, we are looking at an epidemic of older Australians retiring into poverty.
 

On the first sitting day of anti-poverty week the Senate has passed another motion calling for the Government to immediately raise the rate of Newstart.
 
“The high rates of poverty in this country are shameful and Australians care about what poverty does to our families and communities.
 
“Last week at the Senate inquiry hearing into Newstart we heard some devastating accounts from those living on Newstart in a constant state of fear and anxiety with the daily worry of whether than can eat or afford their medication and rent for that week.
 

At the beginning of anti-poverty week Foodbank Australia has released their Hunger Report which has found that one in five Australians went hungry in the last twelve months with women being more likely to experience food insecurity.

"It's heartbreaking that in a country as wealthy as Australia that people in our community are going without food. This should not be happening in 2019," Australian Greens spokesperson on Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

The Government’s proposal to drug test income support recipients in trial areas has been thoroughly rejected by medical experts for the third time today.
 
“There was a clear sense of frustration at the Senate inquiry hearing today from the medical professionals who are not being listened to and a number of references to the fact that the Government continues to doggedly pursue this policy despite strong evidence that it will not work, Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Family and Community Services said today.
 

The Greens have questioned why the Government has only released partial compliance data on the Jobactive Targeted Compliance Framework saying that it indicates that they have something to hide.
 
“The Minister has released an abysmal report on Jobactive that means it’s basically impossible to figure out what is going on with the Jobactive program and the demerit point system of the Targeted Compliance Framework", said Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson on Family and Community services. 
 

The Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee have heard of a stunning lack of consultation with key stakeholders in the NT on the expansion of the Cashless Debit Card in the Northern Territory.

“The issues that the Government is trying to address through compulsory income management were meant to have been “fixed”  through the controversial Intervention over a decade ago”, Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson on First Nations issues said.