Labor’s Julie Collins uses COVID to attack Morrison government on audits and aged care safety

The Shadow Minister for Ageing in Seniors issued a media statement demanding Morrison government must assure Australians that aged care facilities are safe, particularly targeting Menarock Life in Essendon.

“It is deeply concerning a facility in Essendon with the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in aged care has not been audited by the Morrison Government’s aged care regulator in more than three years. This was despite the provider being hauled before the Aged Care Royal Commission in October last year after another of its Melbourne facilities was sanctioned by the regulator. The evidence presented at the Royal Commission was damning. Why didn't the Morrison Government’s aged care regulator look at this provider's other facilities? This concerning lapse must force the Morrison Government to act: older Australians in aged care and their loved ones deserve this. The Morrison Government’s regulator must immediately assure residents at the facility in Essendon and their loved ones that this facility is safe. The Liberal Government promised that audits and reviews of aged care facilities would be ‘relentless’ but this facility appears to have fallen through the cracks”.

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