MEDIA STATEMENT
10 July 2026
Older Australians deserve compassion, common sense and human judgement when decisions are made about the care they receive.
That is why I welcome the passage of the Coalition’s Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 through the Senate.
Introduced by the Coalition’s Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston, the Bill ensures that decisions about aged care support are made by people, not a soulless computer algorithm.
Since November 2025, aged care assessments have been carried out using the Integrated Assessment Tool. At Senate Estimates last month, government officials confirmed this algorithm was never trialled in a live setting before it began making life-changing decisions for older Australians.
The consequences have been deeply concerning.
My office has seen a sharp increase in requests for assistance from seniors struggling to access the care they need to remain in their own homes. Around 100,000 older Australians are waiting for an assessment, the Commonwealth Ombudsman is investigating the system and the Inspector-General of Aged Care has criticised the lack of human oversight.
I’ve heard from local seniors and their families who are frustrated by a system that simply isn’t working as it should. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, not reduced to the output of an algorithm.
The Bill passed the Senate with the support of the Greens, Senator David Pocock and One Nation. Labor voted against it.
While I welcome the Government’s recent decision to allow assessments to be changed in “extenuating circumstances”, older Australians deserve certainty written into law, not policy changes made only after sustained public pressure.
The Bill must now pass the House of Representatives, and I urge the Government to bring it on for a vote without delay.
The Coalition has already secured 20,000 additional home care packages and the reclassification of showering, wound dressing and continence care as clinical support. We will continue fighting to restore human judgement to aged care because it is a matter of basic dignity.
If you or someone you love has been affected by an aged care assessment and needs assistance, please contact my office. My team and I are always here to help.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
