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

Thursday 17 September 2026

LABOR FINALLY ADMITS THE TRUTH: THE ALGORITHM WAS WRONG ALL ALONG

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal it was accepted, uncontested fact inside the Department of Health and Aged Care that assessors needed the ability to override the aged care algorithm.

The documents make it clear the Albanese Government's decision to strip that override out of the assessment process was made from the top down, with Aged Care Department officials only becoming aware of the move three days before the Integrated Assessment Tool went into operation.

The Department's own Support at Home staff, working directly on the program the algorithm was built to run, warned that this was contrary to the advice they had provided to assessors and in public statements because "the inclusion of an override has been regarded by many staff … as a settled position.”

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston said this was the latest example of a Government that rolls out reforms with a flashy press release, without ever asking the people who deliver them, or the people who rely on them, what they actually mean in practice.

"The FOI documents showed the Government that shut out its own staff and frontline assessors from a decision that directly affects older Australians,” Senator Ruston said.

“You cannot tell Australians a qualified human is in control, while designing a system where an assessor cannot override an algorithm-generated result.”

The Coalition has consistently called for human oversight in aged care assessments. The Senate has passed the Coalition's Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026, with Greens and crossbench support, despite Labor's attempt to block it.

It comes as the Government has been forced to admit that the IAT gets the needs of older Australians wrong and needs a human override to fix it with a new legislative amendment introduced this week.

The Coalition last night referred proposed changes to a Senate committee to ensure it provides genuine human oversight, not just another layer of process.

Senator Ruston said the Coalition would keep pushing for genuine reform, not just the tinkering.

“We want meaningful reform of aged care assessments, designed with the people who use them, not decided from the top down and forced on the people at the coalface – the assessors and older Australians,” Senator Ruston said.

“Technology can support an assessment but must never replace professional judgement or stop an assessor responding to an older Australian's individual circumstances.

“Labor’s decision to tinker with the system by introducing an escalation pathway for inaccurate Integrated Assessment Tool outcomes proves Labor’s repeated assurances of human involvement at every step were not true.”

ENDS