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From today, Labor’s new Aged Care Act comes into force, meaning older Australians will pay more for essential care, including up to $50 just for help with a shower, and some will have to forgo care altogether.

This week, Labor’s Minister for Aged Care, Sam Rae, celebrated rising aged care provider profits in an interview with the ABC. To celebrate rising profits for providers while introducing big new co-payments is a slap in the face to older Australians.

The Greens were the only party to vote against the financialisation of care when the bill moved through the Parliament last year, and have called on Labor to reconsider, reverse the care-for-profit system and instead focus on ensuring every Australian can get the care they need at the time that they need it.

Home care co-payments risk losing care

Under the new Support at Home program, new co-payments mean that older Australians will be forced to pay pay up to $50/hour for help with showers, meals, and basic care at home, based on Department of Health data.

While participants in the old program prior to last September were promised they would be no worse off, but in practice older Australians are facing increased prices and fees resulting in lower levels of service. There is no limit on the amount providers can charge for home care fees until 1 July 2026. Aged care economic advisor StewartBrown has advised providers to increase their fees by between 30 and 38 per cent.

Residential care costs increase while inequity rises

Under the new Act, half of all older Australians will pay more to enter residential aged care, including 3 in 10 full pensioners and 75% of part-pensioners. 

Labor have already raised a cap on residential aged care deposits from $550,000 to $750,000, which has driven up prices overnight. Providers can also now keep up to 10% of a residents so called ‘Refundable’ Accommodation Deposit

As Uniting NSW & ACT has warned, aged care residents who can afford this increased upfront deposit (usually from selling their family home) may be worth twice as much in revenue to an aged care facility as an older person who is living week to week, meaning older renters and poor people will find it harder to access care.

Waitlist continues to grow

In last Senate Estimates, it was revealed that as at the end of September, the waitlist for aged care only continues to grow. 

The total combined number of people waiting for care (either for an assessment, or for an aged care package) is up from approx 217,000 in June-July to 238,248 at the end of September. Just 63,000 new packages will be released between 1 November and the end of the financial year.

The only reason for a shortage in the availability of home care is that the government chooses to release fewer home care packages than the community needs each year. The Greens-led Senate inquiry, as well as the Royal Commission, recommended ended the ‘rationing’ of care and instead moving to a ‘demand driven’ system, but Labor have rejected this in favour of enforced shortages.

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

“Under Labor’s new Aged Care Act, the worse your health, the more you’ll pay for care.

“From today, a tsunami of co-payments will break on older Australians.”

“Minister Rae is celebrating increased profits for aged care providers, while under Labor’s plan 1 in 3 people on a full pension are paying more for residential care, and others will be charged up to $50 every time they need help with a shower. That’s shameful.”

“Our parents and grandparents deserve to be looked after in their old age, not forced to choose between a shower each day and a meal.”

“Aged care should not be for profit.” 

“While 1 in 3 big corporations pay no tax, but older Australians can’t get basic help they need, something is seriously wrong.”

“The Greens will fight to reverse care for profit, to end the shortage of care, and to make sure every older person in this country can get the help they need at the time they need it.”

The NACC has announced that Commissioner Brereton will no longer participate in consideration of Defence referrals. They did this in a statement on its website on the afternoon of Friday 31 October announcing that Commissioner Brereton “has decided that he will not participate in consideration of any referrals which involve the interests of any Defence or ADF individual or unit that is or comes before the Commission, regardless of whether it might reasonably be perceived to involve a conflict”. 

The NACC goes on to say “The Commissioner is taking this step, although it is unnecessary from the perspective of properly managing actual or apparent conflicts, solely in an endeavour to recentre the focus on our important operational and educational work.” 

Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Justice and Defence Spokesperson said:

“This is a ‘major-general’ backdown from Commissioner Brereton who, up until now, tried to stare down the growing public revolt over the conflicts of interest.

“In a show of contempt for transparency the NACC only disclosed this major development with a website post put up after 5pm on Friday night. There’s a name for this, it’s called, “putting out the trash.”

“This announcement leaves so many unanswered questions:

– Why is Commissioner Brereton still a Major-General in the ADF?

– What happens to all the defence referrals he has been working on, and making decisions on, until now?

– Why is Commissioner Brereton being paid over $800k a year not to work on defence referrals?

“Defence, which is embroiled in a series of multi-million dollar procurement scandals, is one of the largest customers for the NACC which had over 120 Defence referrals as at April this year. 

“It is not just that the NACC’s statement came late on a Friday night, so too did the Government’s tabling of the NACC Annual Report which was over two weeks late.

“Astoundingly, given the serial failures of the NACC Commissioner Brereton to deal with conflicts of interest in his own role, the NACC says conflicts of interest is one of its three main corruption prevention themes.

“Corruption complaints concerning conflicts of interest are also identified in the NACC annual report as major elements of its ongoing work.

“It remains untenable for Commission Brereton to stay as the NACC Commissioner given his repeated failure to deal with his own conflicts of interest.  

“This latest step only highlights the damage he has done to the NACC’s public standing.

“Anti-corruption agencies should be modelling best practice, not cynically making significant announcements late on Friday afternoons.

“The Albanese Government needs to act and, if Commissioner Brereton will not leave of his accord, bring the matter before the Parliament for a decision on his future,” Senator Shoebridge said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, will this weekend represent Australia at the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Malaysia.

ASEAN sits at the core of Australia’s vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region, where all countries – large and small – are free to exercise their sovereignty.

Through the ADMM-Plus, defence ministers from across the region come together to pursue dialogue and cooperation in support of these fundamental principles. 

While in Kuala Lumpar, the Deputy Prime Minister will also hold a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings with his counterparts.  

Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles:

“The ADMM-Plus is the region’s premier defence forum, bringing together a critical group of states to pursue the dialogue and cooperation that is a pre-requisite for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous region. 

“Australia strongly supports a regional order with ASEAN at its centre, providing an essential stabilising influence.

“I look forward to the opportunity to engage with my counterparts this weekend as we continue to look at opportunities to advance our defence and security cooperation.”

From today, Labor’s new Aged Care Act comes into force, meaning older Australians will pay more for essential care, including up to $50 just for help with a shower, and some will have to forgo care altogether.

This week, Labor’s Minister for Aged Care, Sam Rae, celebrated rising aged care provider profits in an interview with the ABC. To celebrate rising profits for providers while introducing big new co-payments is a slap in the face to older Australians.

The Greens were the only party to vote against the financialisation of care when the bill moved through the Parliament last year, and have called on Labor to reconsider, reverse the care-for-profit system and instead focus on ensuring every Australian can get the care they need at the time that they need it.

Home care co-payments risk losing care

Under the new Support at Home program, new co-payments mean that older Australians will be forced to pay pay up to $50/hour for help with showers, meals, and basic care at home, based on Department of Health data.

While participants in the old program prior to last September were promised they would be no worse off, but in practice older Australians are facing increased prices and fees resulting in lower levels of service. There is no limit on the amount providers can charge for home care fees until 1 July 2026. Aged care economic advisor StewartBrown has advised providers to increase their fees by between 30 and 38 per cent.

Residential care costs increase while inequity rises

Under the new Act, half of all older Australians will pay more to enter residential aged care, including 3 in 10 full pensioners and 75% of part-pensioners. 

Labor have already raised a cap on residential aged care deposits from $550,000 to $750,000, which has driven up prices overnight. Providers can also now keep up to 10% of a residents so called ‘Refundable’ Accommodation Deposit

As Uniting NSW & ACT has warned, aged care residents who can afford this increased upfront deposit (usually from selling their family home) may be worth twice as much in revenue to an aged care facility as an older person who is living week to week, meaning older renters and poor people will find it harder to access care.

Waitlist continues to grow

In last Senate Estimates, it was revealed that as at the end of September, the waitlist for aged care only continues to grow. 

The total combined number of people waiting for care (either for an assessment, or for an aged care package) is up from approx 217,000 in June-July to 238,248 at the end of September. Just 63,000 new packages will be released between 1 November and the end of the financial year.

The only reason for a shortage in the availability of home care is that the government chooses to release fewer home care packages than the community needs each year. The Greens-led Senate inquiry, as well as the Royal Commission, recommended ended the ‘rationing’ of care and instead moving to a ‘demand driven’ system, but Labor have rejected this in favour of enforced shortages.

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

“Under Labor’s new Aged Care Act, the worse your health, the more you’ll pay for care.

“From today, a tsunami of co-payments will break on older Australians.”

“Minister Rae is celebrating increased profits for aged care providers, while under Labor’s plan 1 in 3 people on a full pension are paying more for residential care, and others will be charged up to $50 every time they need help with a shower. That’s shameful.”

“Our parents and grandparents deserve to be looked after in their old age, not forced to choose between a shower each day and a meal.”

“Aged care should not be for profit.” 

“While 1 in 3 big corporations pay no tax, but older Australians can’t get basic help they need, something is seriously wrong.”

“The Greens will fight to reverse care for profit, to end the shortage of care, and to make sure every older person in this country can get the help they need at the time they need it.”

The NACC has announced that Commissioner Brereton will no longer participate in consideration of Defence referrals. They did this in a statement on its website on the afternoon of Friday 31 October announcing that Commissioner Brereton “has decided that he will not participate in consideration of any referrals which involve the interests of any Defence or ADF individual or unit that is or comes before the Commission, regardless of whether it might reasonably be perceived to involve a conflict”. 

The NACC goes on to say “The Commissioner is taking this step, although it is unnecessary from the perspective of properly managing actual or apparent conflicts, solely in an endeavour to recentre the focus on our important operational and educational work.” 

Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Justice and Defence Spokesperson said:

“This is a ‘major-general’ backdown from Commissioner Brereton who, up until now, tried to stare down the growing public revolt over the conflicts of interest.

“In a show of contempt for transparency the NACC only disclosed this major development with a website post put up after 5pm on Friday night. There’s a name for this, it’s called, “putting out the trash.”

“This announcement leaves so many unanswered questions:

– Why is Commissioner Brereton still a Major-General in the ADF?

– What happens to all the defence referrals he has been working on, and making decisions on, until now?

– Why is Commissioner Brereton being paid over $800k a year not to work on defence referrals?

“Defence, which is embroiled in a series of multi-million dollar procurement scandals, is one of the largest customers for the NACC which had over 120 Defence referrals as at April this year. 

“It is not just that the NACC’s statement came late on a Friday night, so too did the Government’s tabling of the NACC Annual Report which was over two weeks late.

“Astoundingly, given the serial failures of the NACC Commissioner Brereton to deal with conflicts of interest in his own role, the NACC says conflicts of interest is one of its three main corruption prevention themes.

“Corruption complaints concerning conflicts of interest are also identified in the NACC annual report as major elements of its ongoing work.

“It remains untenable for Commission Brereton to stay as the NACC Commissioner given his repeated failure to deal with his own conflicts of interest.  

“This latest step only highlights the damage he has done to the NACC’s public standing.

“Anti-corruption agencies should be modelling best practice, not cynically making significant announcements late on Friday afternoons.

“The Albanese Government needs to act and, if Commissioner Brereton will not leave of his accord, bring the matter before the Parliament for a decision on his future,” Senator Shoebridge said.