The research conducted by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care has shown that due to increased life expectancy, the proportion of elderly individuals suffering from dementia is higher. Furthermore, there is a greater chance of losing the ability to speak a second language. Therefore, the Department of Health and Aged Care believes that multicultural elderly individuals, especially those who do not understand English, should reside in facilities that provide an environment catering to their language and cultural needs when they move into nursing homes. This will enable them to feel safe, make friends with their fellow residents, and help slow down cognitive decline.
I have a close friend who just turned 82 last year. Due to a fall, she had to be hospitalized and later moved into a nursing facility as she had no family members living with her. Since there are very few nursing facilities that cater specifically to Chinese speakers, she had no opportunity to be placed in such a facility within a short period. Instead, she had to reside in a facility where English was predominantly spoken. Although some staff members in the facility could speak Chinese, she struggled with basic communication and relied on body language to manage. However, 90% of the residents in the facility did not speak Chinese. Suddenly, my friend became a lonely prisoner. Her daughter could only spend a short time with her during daily visits, and throughout the day, she felt disconnected from the world. In less than six months, my friend found it difficult to communicate with others and had no understanding or awareness of the changes happening in the world or society. She even struggled to recognize her own family members and occasional visiting friends. This situation made me deeply realize that our elderly population needs nursing homes where Chinese is spoken and where they can experience Chinese cultural life.
When my father turned 86, he and my mother moved into a retirement village with about 600 residents, including over 60 Chinese individuals. In the first few years, he was still able to move around, and with more friends to communicate with, his social circle expanded, and he became more active and outgoing. When he could no longer take care of himself, he moved with my mother into the nursing facility within the village, and within about a year, he passed away. Having a companion in his old age provided him with a pleasant time.
After my father’s passing, my mother rarely left her room, and there were no other residents in the nursing facility who understood Chinese. Soon, without regular communication with others, my mother lost her ability to care for herself and comprehend the life around her. Although her physical health was still relatively good, she could no longer engage in normal communication with people.
Through the experiences of my close family members and friends, I have come to recognize the importance of elderly individuals being able to live in nursing facilities that accommodate their language and cultural needs.
Promises of the Victorian Labor Party
According to the 2021 population statistics, there were a total of 20,828 elderly individuals aged 70 and above in the Melbourne city area who only spoke Chinese at home. Based on the federal government’s planning for elderly care facilities, there should be 69.1 nursing beds provided per 1,000 elderly individuals aged 70 and above. This means that in 2021, Melbourne needed a total of 1,400 nursing beds to cater to Chinese elderly individuals. Due to various reasons, Chinese elderly individuals often live with their children for extended periods and only choose to move into nursing facilities at a later age. Therefore, some people believe that even if the planned 1,400 beds are not yet available, it wouldn’t be a significant issue at present. However, currently, there are only three Chinese elderly care facilities in Melbourne, offering a total of fewer than 200 nursing beds, which is far from sufficient to meet the needs of Chinese elderly individuals today.
If these nursing beds could be distributed across different Chinese communities, it would be the most crucial investment for the Chinese community because the family members of these elderly residents could easily visit their beloved relatives. However, most nursing facility operators, due to business reasons, are not willing to limit themselves to serving a specific language group. Many newly opened nursing facilities arrange elderly individuals from the same culture and language to live in the same area.
In 2014, when the Victorian Labor Party was still in Opposition, they introduced the “Multicultural Aged Care Strategy,” proposing to purchase land and provide long-term leases to multicultural community service organizations in the form of rent subsidies. This was to allow these organizations to build and manage nursing facilities that cater to their specific culture and language needs, providing care services for elderly individuals who do not speak English. It can be said that this was a forward-thinking policy by the Victorian Labor Party because more young immigrants would be encouraged to stay in Melbourne when they could find suitable care for their aging parents. Unfortunately, up until today, 9 years have passed, and there hasn’t been a single additional nursing bed provided for Chinese elderly individuals in Victoria. One could say that the Victorian Labor Party government deceived the Chinese community by failing to fulfill the promises made during their campaign.
Results of Promises Made in 2014 and 2018
In early 2017, the Labor Party government invited Chinese community organizations to give their opinions on where to purchase land for building Chinese elderly care facilities. Eventually, they selected a 5,000 sqm plot in Springvale South to lease to a Chinese community service organization for constructing a 90-bed elderly care facility. At the time, it was pointed out that without government support, the establishment would not be easy. Later, in October 2018, the government announced that the land would be leased to The Chinese Association of Victoria (CAV) founded by retiring Labor Party member, Hong Lim, for the construction of the facility. It was argued that this decision raised concerns of impropriety due to the close ties between the government and the Council.
In response, the Labor Party government immediately allocated an additional $7.25 million to acquire land near Box Hill to build another 90-bed facility and granted $1 million to improve equipment in two existing Chinese elderly care facilities, earning support from the Chinese community. During the subsequent elections, the Labor Party gained more seats and Chinese votes, demonstrating their successful campaign strategy.
In the 2019 Federal Election, the Federal Labor Party took it a step further, pledging to allocate an additional $7.25 million to support the construction of a facility in the Box Hill area, aiming to secure Chinese votes. Following the coverage and analysis of this strategy in Sameway, we challenged the Liberal Party’s Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt, to make a similar commitment. The election results saw the Labor Party losing the Federal Election, but the Chinese community emerged as the biggest beneficiary, receiving funding from the Coalition Party to support the construction of the nursing home in the Box Hill area.
However, the land that was allocated in Springvale South in 2018 remained undeveloped as the CAV was unable to secure sufficient funding for the elderly care facility, and the project has yet to commence.
In 2021, the government purchased a 10,000 sqm land in Templestowe Lower and requested Chinese community organizations to apply for building the elderly care facility. The original plan was to finalize the land leasing contract by the end of September last year. Still, in July, the government hired a consulting company to assess the feasibility of the entire multicultural aged care facility plan, which was re-evaluated due to the economic conditions following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, no land allocation results were announced during the 2021 Victorian election.
Before the November Victorian election, I repeatedly questioned Premier Andrews why the promise was not fulfilled and the land was not allocated to help the Chinese community address the urgent needs of their elderly. Andrews evaded the question, claiming that the purchase of the land fulfilled the promise. I pointed out that not allocating the land meant failing to improve the situation for Chinese elderly individuals and breaking the trust of the Chinese community. At that time, Andrews promised to resolve the issue as soon as possible after the election.
The Minister’s Decision in 2023
In March 2023, the Minister of Disability, Elderly, and Caregiving arranged for the Department Director to notify me that, in order to provide better loan conditions to the contracted organization, they decided to extend the land leasing period and propose some minor improvement conditions. As a result, they needed to conduct a new bidding process, which is estimated to cause a two-year delay. At the time, I expressed that this decision was not reasonable because, with the current annual construction cost increasing by 12%, a two-year delay meant the Chinese community would have to raise an additional $7 million, making the project unfeasible. Moreover, it would mean a delay of two years for 90 elderly individuals to move in, and the facilities would not be completed until at least 2028, which is unacceptable. By that time, the Chinese community’s demand for beds is expected to exceed 2,000.
I sought advice and requested the Federal MPs and relevant ministers to review the decision for the Victorian Minister to re-evaluate the bidding process. However, on July 7th, the Minister’s advisors and relevant officials informed us that the Minister still insisted on proceeding with the new bidding process. I questioned these officials about the benefits of the new bidding process, considering the Chinese community would have to pay an additional $7 million and wait for two more years. They remained speechless and could only reiterate that the government had the right to terminate the agreement at any time during the bidding process.
Signature Campaign
I believe that Chinese individuals who care about elderly Chinese people will now realize that the Labor government has failed to fulfill its campaign promises from 2014 and 2018, deceiving the Chinese community’s support during elections. From 2014 until now, over three election cycles, the Labor Party has received substantial support from the Chinese community, thus gaining the opportunity to govern Victoria. However, the Labor Party has not delivered on its campaign promises to improve the necessary care services for Chinese elderly individuals in Melbourne.
I believe it is time to let the Labor government know that the Chinese community is determined to fight for proper care for our elderly and hold them accountable for their commitments to us.
Community organizations supporting our Chinese petition can contact this magazine (0422871799, Raymond) to collect signatures in your service area, urging the government to cancel its decision to redevelop the land in Templestowe Lower for Chinese elderly care facilities. We can show Premier Andrews the Chinese community’s willingness to see their campaign promises fulfilled. We aim to present the collected signatures to Premier Andrews in mid-August, requesting immediate approval for the land in Templestowe Lower to be dedicated to elderly care services for the Chinese community.
Mr. Raymond Chow, Publisher