00:00Elderly dementia patients who don't want to go into aged care can now be fast-tracked under new state laws.
00:07What we've done is harmonise our laws with what's in place in other states.
00:12The laws were supported unanimously in Parliament last month.
00:15Legal guardians now have the power to detain their hospital patient in an aged care facility
00:20if they're deemed by a clinician to be at significant risk of harm to themselves or others.
00:25Under the old system, a family member had to apply for those powers in the civil tribunal.
00:30Now, SACAT doesn't have to review the case for up to six months.
00:34This change has alarmed aged care advocates.
00:37Some slimeball might be looking at this saying,
00:40oh, I can use this to get Mumma out of our house and sell the place.
00:46It appears to leave older people exposed and at risk.
00:52But the government says there's already enough protection.
00:54There's incredible oversight of the federal aged care system.
00:58Federal aged care has got more safeguards than ever before.
01:02The state government argues that delays in getting elderly hospital patients into aged care
01:07is a key contributor to ambulance ramping.
01:10It says these law changes will cut down on administrative hold-ups.
01:14But advocates warn that if the number of aged care beds doesn't increase,
01:17the problem won't go away.
01:19Even if you have that authority to have your mum put into an aged care facility,
01:26there are no places.
01:27An ongoing issue with no easy answers.
01:29An ongoing issue with no easy answers.
01:30An ongoing issue with no easy answers.
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