SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE

SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday, 11th August 2026

The Albanese Government has shut down debate on Coalition legislation to restore human judgement to aged care assessments — defending a broken system rather than fixing it.

The Coalition’s Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 passed the Senate earlier this year, with only Labor voting against, and has since been introduced into the House of Representatives.

The Bill gives qualified assessors the power to exercise professional judgement when the Government’s Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) fails to reflect an older Australian’s real care needs.

But when the Coalition moved to bring it on for debate today, Labor shut it down.

“Labor won’t even let Parliament debate putting a trained human back in charge of aged care assessments,” Senator Ruston said.

“The Government’s quick fix doesn’t solve the problem, because the problem is far bigger than one administrative issue.

“The IAT is broken. It is consistently under-assessing older Australians and failing to identify frailty, vulnerability and complex care needs.

“When a tool keeps getting the answer wrong, you don’t fix it by tinkering at the edges. We need an immediate human override, and a full overhaul of the IAT,” Senator Ruston said.

“Labor has built an aged care system focused on algorithms and bureaucracy instead of the needs of older Australians,” Senator Ruston said.

“Older Australians are paying the price — under-assessed, made to wait, or left without care. This is not a minor implementation issue. It goes to whether Labor’s system is fit for purpose.”

“Older Australians should not be reduced to a score generated by a computer,” Senator Ruston said.

“Where the tool gets it wrong, a qualified professional should be able to say so. That is exactly what our Bill does — it puts human judgement back at the centre of aged care assessments.”

“Labor had the opportunity to fix this urgent issue today on the floor of Parliament, but after months of defending this system, they would rather gag debate than fix it,” Senator Ruston said.

“Restoring human oversight isn’t radical — it’s common sense. The Coalition will keep fighting for it, because it is older Australians who are paying for Labor’s broken system.”

ENDS