Category: Australian News

The Australian Greens have demanded that Labor go back to the drawing board on aged care assessments after a damning Four Corners investigation revealed that the government’s new assessment tool had been designed to under-assess need and priority.

The controversial Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), which uses an algorithm to automate decision-making, has repeatedly been shown to provide assessments that have left thousands of people without an appropriate level of funding for their care needs.

Last month Labor suffered a humiliating parliamentary defeat when the Senate passed a bill co-sponsored by the Greens to restore human override to the IAT.

Now, a Four Corners investigation has revealed the test has been designed in a way that systemically under-assesses older people with mental health conditions, cognition issues and frailty. Most of the questions asked in the test are not even considered in the outcome.

This tool was not live tested, and the department has been unable to name any clinical experts that validated it. 

Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Greens Spokesperson for Older People:

“The Four Corners investigation is yet another damning indictment of Labor’s reckless aged care reforms. 

“Labor’s aged care assessment tool is broken, and the problems go beyond a simple fix. The IAT needs to be scrapped.

“This is the same tool that has denied essential funding to older Australians with lifelong degenerative conditions like MND and dementia.

“This tool was untested, fatally flawed and implemented with the absolute minimum accountability – all in the name of cutting costs.

“Labor must replace the IAT with a new assessment tool that centres the human rights and care needs of older people.

“Instead of penny-pinching from older people and withholding essential care, Labor could choose to properly fund aged care by taxing gas corporations and making billionaires and the 1% pay their fair share.”

The Australian Greens have called Labor captured and the Liberals weak for their dirty deal on cowardly and careless gambling reform.

The Greens say the Albanese Labor government’s lack of political will to take on big gambling corporations and vested interests is leaving Australians worse off.

This major party stitch up will see Australians continue to be bombarded by gambling ads online and hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people exposed to devastating gambling harm.

Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens:

“Anthony Albanese and the entire Labor party should hang their heads in shame today. Our Prime Minister has handed Australian screens over to predatory gambling companies.

“Generations of Australians who have suffered through the gambling industry’s bombardment will have the relentless ads follow them. How dare Anthony Albanese leave your living rooms, cars, YouTube, and even your kids Spotify playlists unsafe?  

“This cowardly Labor-Liberal deal means Anthony Albanese chose to protect his party’s gambling donations rather than delivering evidence-based policy that protects people.

“It is a government’s job to look after people, but when Labor has the opportunity they bend the knee to wealthy donors, side with big corporations and leave Australians behind. 

“Corporate donations are the fatal flaw of the Labor party. When they come under lobbyist pressure they choose their donors over people.

“A vote for Labor is a vote for the vested interests they protect. A vote for the Greens is a vote for people, not profits.”

Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens communications spokesperson:

“Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor have failed the moral test to protect Australian families.

“Labor has proven itself to be captured by the gambling industry while the Liberals are just weak.

“These laws are designed to fail. Gambling companies are the winners while once again Australian families are the biggest losers.

“This bill is so convoluted it looks less like gambling reform and more like a protection racket for the gambling industry. It is full of loopholes, delays and complexity designed to ensure it’s never actually used.

“Angus Taylor has shown that he is a weak leader. He is a pushover who has sold out for nothing more than the veneer of action.

“They have turned a straightforward reform into a dog’s breakfast of exemptions, carve-outs and red tape. That is not an accident; it’s how you protect the gambling industry from real accountability.

“The Murphy Report was very clear, as was the evidence to the Senate inquiry: to reduce gambling harm a full ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling is needed.

“These piecemeal and confusing amendments will not work and will not stop the predatory practices of gambling companies. It’s a dog’s breakfast of a deal that gives the appearance of reform while ensuring the industry can keep doing business as usual.

“Under these laws, gambling companies will still be able to groom vulnerable people and problem gamblers with inducements, they will still be able to flood the internet with harmful advertising and they will still not have any oversight from a national regulator.

“This bill allows online ads to continue. Addictive social media platforms will be able to continue pushing addictive gambling products to users. Social media platforms will continue to be able to use the data they have on users to personally target people directly with gambling ads and promotions.

“The community have made it abundantly clear that they want and expect real action to remove gambling ads. The government has failed.

“Both the Labor and the Liberal parties have chosen to prioritise the profits of the gambling companies over the interests of the community. It’s not hard to see why when the gambling industry has spent millions giving inducements in the form of political donations to both the Labor and the Liberal parties.

“The parliament had the opportunity to enact generational reform that would protect Australian children and families from the predatory behaviour of the gambling industry and instead they have backed their mates in the gambling industry.”
 

The Australian Greens say the Albanese Labor government has abandoned disabled Australians in an appalling dirty deal with the Liberals.

This major party stitch up on the NDIS leaves hundreds of thousands without support, and solidifies Albanese’s legacy as one of commitment to protecting corporate profits over people.

Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens: 

“Today the Labor party becomes responsible for the largest cut to a government services program this century.

“This cowardly Labor-Liberal deal means Anthony Albanese is choosing to balance the budget off the backs of disabled people, rather than making the 1% pay their fair share.

“Albanese is choosing to kick 241,000 disabled people off the NDIS to save money, instead of a minimum 25% gas export tax that would raise at least $17 billion.

“It is a government’s job to look after people, but when Labor has the opportunity they side with the greedy gas corporations and leave Australians behind. 

“A vote for Labor is a vote for the vested interests they protect. A vote for the Greens is a vote for people, not profits.” 

Jordon Steele-John, Greens NDIS spokesperson:

“You can’t say you haven’t been warned.

“The community has made its position clear: the NDIS bill should not pass. What is clear now is that the major parties have come together behind closed doors in Canberra and signed away the rights, security and lives of people who depend on the NDIS.

“The passage of this bill is a betrayal, particularly of the people who trusted Labor to protect them and maintain the supports they rely on.

“And the government had choices.

“It could have chosen to properly tax gas corporations and ask those with the greatest capacity to contribute their fair share. Instead, it has chosen to strip back the safety net and the supports available to people who need them most.

“Shame on Labor.”

In another embarrassing defeat for Labor’s unravelling aged care reforms, the Senate has this afternoon backed a Greens motion demanding that the government abolish its Integrated Assessment Tool, which was the subject of yesterday’s damning Four Corners investigation.

The substantive motion was agreed to without a vote being recorded, after the Coalition and the crossbench earlier voted in support of the Greens motion to suspend standing orders.

This is the latest in a series of humiliations the parliament has inflicted on the Albanese Government’s new aged care system, including being forced by the parliament to release 20,000 more home care packages, backtracking on some co-payments, and launching a rapid review into the algorithm.

Just last month Labor suffered another parliamentary defeat when the Senate passed a bill co-sponsored by the Greens to restore human override to the IAT.

Greens Older People spokesperson Senator Penny Allman-Payne: 

“The writing is on the wall for Labor’s aged care assessment tool.

“It’s a friendless system that older people, carers and experts have been screaming about for months.

“It’s systematically under-assessing need and priority, denying care to thousands and leaving people with degenerative conditions desperately short of even the bare minimum funding they need.

“Now the parliament has been crystal clear: it’s time for Labor to go back to the drawing board on aged care assessments. Older people deserve a tested assessment system designed by experts that has their rights at its core.”

Full text of motion here:

Motion by leave— Integrated Assessment Tool (in between items of business)

That—the Senate:

(a) notes that the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) is untested, structurally flawed and systematically under-assessing the care needs of older Australians, especially those living with mental health conditions, cognitive issues and frailty; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) take immediate action to abolish the IAT,

(ii) replace the IAT with a tested assessment system that is designed with clinical experts,

(iii) ensure this new assessment system has guaranteeing the rights of older people as its first priority, and

(iv) restore the role of clinical professionals in the assessment process and reinstate the ability for human override.

Thank you, Speaker.

South Vietnam. Phuoc Tuy Province. The 18^th of August 1966. 

D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment – 100 men spread across three platoons.

They enter a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tan at 3:00 pm.

The Australians find themselves pinned down and outnumbered by a number of well-armed and highly skilled enemy, some 2,000 strong.

They fight in a torrential downpour which hits the red earth and kicks up ‘mud mist’ – reducing visibility.

On the verge of being overrun, the Australians are saved by the guns of a New Zealand artillery battery.

Then, as ammunition runs low, two RAAF helicopters fly a daring mission in atrocious conditions and resupply D Company at the critical moment.

As the Viet Cong prepares for an all-in attack, hope appears on the horizon.

And like friendly cavalry coming over the hill, Australian armoured personnel carriers arrive carrying A Company.

The enemy withdraws and the battle ends.

At least 245 Viet Cong soldiers have been killed.

The men of D Company have endured three-and-a-half hours of hell against all the odds.

But not without cost – Seventeen Australians have fallen, 25 Australians have been wounded.

One will die of his wounds days later.

Speaker, The Battle of Long Tan reinforced the courage, camaraderie, and composure that defines Anzacs in war.

And it came to represent Australia’s commitment to the Vietnam War.

That is why, every year, on the 18^th of August, we commemorate Vietnam Veterans’ Day.

Today, on the 60^th Anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, we not only remember those who fought and fell in that fray.

We also acknowledge the spirit, suffering, and the sacrifice of all of our Vietnam veterans.

Between ‘62 and ‘73, some 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam.

Some 15,000 were ‘Nashos’ – men conscripted who went to war without complaint and served as wholeheartedly as the regulars.

The War saw 3,000 Australians wounded and 523 Australians tragically killed.

And, as we just heard from the Prime Minister, this country did take too long to recognise the sacrifice of our Vietnam veterans.

To the warfighters, freedom fighters, and heroes of Vietnam, on your day – Vietnam Veterans’ Day – we remember you, we honour you, we thank you for your service, your suffering, your sacrifice.

Lest we forget.

Prime Minister Albanese will welcome the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, HE Mr Anutin Charnvirakul, to Australia from 17 to 20 August 2026.

Australia and Thailand share substantial trade and investment links. Thailand is Australia’s fourth largest trading partner in Southeast Asia and our 11th largest trading partner overall.

The Prime Ministers will meet in Canberra on Wednesday 19 August to discuss deepening economic cooperation under the Australia-Thailand Strategic Partnership.

The visit will be Prime Minister Anutin’s first to Australia since taking office. The Leaders last met on the margins of ASEAN-led Summits in Kuala Lumpur in October 2025.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Anutin on his first visit to Australia as Prime Minister.

“Australia and Thailand enjoy a warm relationship, built on trust and a shared commitment to a prosperous Indo-Pacific.

“Many Australians have experienced Thailand’s warmth and hospitality through travel, while the Thai-Australian community continues to enrich our nation and strengthen the enduring ties between our countries through business and culture.”

Older people across Australia continue to experience delays and unacceptable challenges with the Support at Home program, with ABC Four Corners bringing national attention to critical issues that need urgent reform.

Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) has consistently raised these issues with the government since the commencement of the Act. OPAN CEO Craig Gear said the recent media coverage is a powerful reminder of the need for urgent changes to be made.

Issues included concerns about the prioritisation system and the use of a controversial algorithm within the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), which is used to determine an older person’s priority status and funding allocation. Additional concerns include unacceptably long wait times for assessments and reassessments, access to the full level of funding approved, and timely access to assistive technology and home modifications.

We continue to hear directly from older people about issues in aged care, which will continue to worsen unless changes are made,” Mr Gear said.

The problems highlighted last night are the same ones that our advocates have been hearing since day one.

Support at Home is well intentioned but it is abundantly clear that the program is not reaching its intent for too many older people.

While OPAN supports a consistent and rigorous approach to the assessment process, the IAT algorithm has been an ongoing challenge and concern for older people. Especially since it determines a person’s level of aged care funding and priority, which can impact their wellbeing and autonomy.

The algorithm may work for some to receive the right levels of support, but we continue to hear from frontline aged care advocates about instances where the outcome does not logically match an older person’s identified care needs.

These assessments go to the core of an older person’s dignity and independence, so it is crucial that a human element remains when it comes to decision-making.

We look forward to seeing the findings from the government’s review and working together to find a better way forward to escalate exceptional cases, including times when an older person’s needs or priority level have changed. This must occur with appropriate clinical and human oversight.”

Mr Gear said the government’s latest Aged Care Wait Times report shows some improvement, but it still takes on average 7-10 months for standard priority to get Support at Home and 5 months for a spot in an aged care home.

More than 250,000 older people are currently on the wait list for aged care, either for an assessment, allocation of funding or a package at their approved level,” Mr Gear said.

These are not numbers, they are human beings, who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. While there have been some gains in allocating more packages there are still a large number of older people who are not getting the support they need or have been assessed for.

Older people have a right to access a safe, quality aged care system that genuinely realises their rights in practice, not just in legislation.”

Five years on from the fall of Kabul our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan, who continue to face violent repression at the hands of the Taliban, as well the Afghan community in Australia and around the world.

We acknowledge the brave contribution and sacrifices made by more than 39,000 Australian Defence Force and civilian personnel who conducted or supported operations in Afghanistan over 20 years.

We remember the 41 Australian soldiers who died during operations in Afghanistan and those we have lost after they returned home.  Our thoughts are with their loved ones and those who still carry the mental and physical toll.

We also recognise our coalition partners, and the Afghan Locally Engaged Employees who worked alongside us, thousands of whom now call Australia home, along with their families. Their service is an important part of our shared story, and we remain committed to helping those who helped our mission.

The Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 marked a devastating turning point for Afghanistan.

It also triggered one of the largest humanitarian operations in Australia’s history. In the days that followed, Defence personnel, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Home Affairs officials along with Australian Border Force officers, worked around the clock to help thousands of Australian citizens, visa holders and locally engaged Afghan employees leave Afghanistan. Their actions, at a time of extreme danger, saved lives and reflected two decades of Australian commitment to stabilise Afghanistan.

Australia has not stepped back from that responsibility. The Afghan people endure one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Since September 2021, we have delivered $310 million in sustained humanitarian assistance through trusted partners, including UN agencies, to ensure it reaches those most in need, not the Taliban. We have expanded migration pathways for displaced Afghans and continue to work with international partners to support those most at risk, particularly women and girls.

The Taliban’s ongoing violations of human rights – including systematic attempts to erase women and girls from public life by stripping away education and employment opportunities that deny their potential – remain unacceptable.

We have worked with partners to pursue action against this coordinated discrimination under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. We have established a world-first autonomous sanctions framework for Afghanistan and imposed financial sanctions and travel bans against senior Taliban figures.

Today, we reaffirm our commitment to the Afghan people to hold the Taliban to account. We will continue to press for consequences and support international efforts to protect fundamental freedoms, ensuring that the Afghan people are not abandoned.

Greens reject dangerous NDIS cuts after inquiry exposes threat to disabled people, workers and families

The Australian Greens have released their final report on the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, reaffirming their strong opposition to legislation they say goes too far, too fast and should not pass the Parliament.

The report follows an extended parliamentary inquiry, with the Greens securing an additional eight weeks of hearings and evidence after sustained pressure from the disability community.

The Greens said the additional inquiry period was vital in exposing the potential consequences of the Government’s proposed changes.

Senator Jordon Steele-John, Australian Greens Spokesperson for the NDIS. 

“The Greens’ central recommendation is clear: this Bill should not pass Parliament.

“This inquiry has made one thing abundantly clear: support needs do not disappear when funding does. They are pushed onto disabled people, families, support workers and the broader community.

“These cuts risk undermining the independence, dignity and participation of disabled people while shifting costs onto families, hospitals, schools, universities and the wider care economy.

“Thousands of jobs are at risk. The Australia Institute estimates cuts to social and community participation supports could result in the loss of 51,641 full-time equivalent jobs, representing almost 94 million hours of work.

“The Government cannot cut billions from participant supports and pretend there will be no impact on the workers who deliver those supports. When funded support disappears, the work does not; it is pushed onto families and unpaid carers.

“The inquiry also heard that reduced supports could leave people unable to live independently, participate in education or employment, or safely return home from hospital. From the classroom to the emergency department, these cuts will be felt far beyond the NDIS.

“The NDIS can and should be reformed, including through stronger anti-fraud measures and reducing unnecessary administrative burdens. These cuts should not come at the expense of disabled people’s rights and essential supports.

“Budgets are about choices. This Government is choosing to take essential supports away from disabled people while leaving enormous potential revenue from taxing gas exports on the table.

“Disabled people have been subjected to months of public debate about the value of their lives and the supports they rely on. They deserve to be listened to, not treated as a budget problem.

“The Greens will always fight for the rights, dignity and autonomy of disabled people. We will strongly oppose this Bill when it reaches the Senate, and we urge the crossbench and the Opposition to do the same.”

The ACT Greens are laying the groundwork for a new agreement with the ACT Labor Government – real, measurable commitments that deliver for Canberrans and the environment.

After the 2024 Territory election, former Greens leader Shane Rattenbury struck an agreement with Chief Minister Andrew Barr. That agreement saw the ACT Greens move to the crossbench: rather than holding Ministries, Greens MLAs agreed to support Mr Barr as Chief Minister in exchange for a commitment by Labor to deliver a range of specific community outcomes under a confidence and supply agreement. That agreement expired with Mr Rattenbury’s retirement from politics.

New ACT Greens Leader Jo Clay has now approached the Chief Minister to negotiate a new agreement. With only two years left this term, there is mutual appetite for a short, sharp agreement that delivers tangible outcomes for the community.

“Canberrans deserve published, enforceable commitments from the ACT Labor Government, not two years of good intentions,” Ms Clay said.

Ms Clay noted the pattern of delayed delivery and community concerns about the Government’s performance.

“This isn’t one bad headline. It’s a public housing waitlist that keeps growing, essential services like libraries being cut, projects being continually delayed, public school teachers and waste collection workers pushed to strike. The warning signs are flashing. Canberrans can see this pattern, and they expect better. That’s why we’re at the table: to work with the Labor Government to get our city back on track, deliver outcomes, and provide the stable government Canberrans need.”

The ACT Greens’ priorities for a new agreement are:

• Integrity and accountability
• Housing and renters’ rights – stronger protections, and more public and community housing
• Climate and environment – protecting the Western Edge, and delivering on recycling and waste
• Health, disability and education – more free GP visits, stronger support during proposed NDIS cuts and commitments to our public schools
• Public transport and community services – free travel for concession card holders, and community libraries open on weekends
• First Nations justice.

Ms Clay said negotiations were underway and progressing constructively. “The Greens are negotiating in good faith, and we want this agreement to succeed, because Canberrans are the ones who benefit when it does. But community confidence must be earned, item by item.

“Given that this agreement is being negotiated in the shadow of Operation Kingfisher, our first asks are real integrity outcomes to restore confidence in government.

“Our focus remains on housing, protecting our environment and climate, going further and faster on buses and light rail, and supporting the most vulnerable people in our city.”