Members and Senators representing almost half of the federal parliament and nearly two-thirds of the Senate have sent a letter to Aged Care Minister Sam Rae calling for urgent reforms to the Support at Home program.
Coordinated by ACT Independent Senator David Pocock, with support from the Coalition, the Greens and the entire crossbench, the letter calls for five key actions following a growing number of complaints from older Australians and their carers.
The urgent reforms parliamentarians are seeking would: restore human oversight to aged care assessments so they reflect genuine individual needs, not flawed algorithms; re-categorise showering, dressing and continence as clinical care, with no older Australian forced to pay excessive costs for basic hygiene; consider whether essential daily activities like meal preparation have been correctly classified; review the 10% case management fee cap; and provide clear, transparent detail on implementation of upcoming price caps under Support at Home, as service costs have reportedly risen by up to 40 per cent.
Senator Pocock said the government legislated a “no worse off” principle when passing the Aged Care reforms in 2024 but since the transition to Support at Home began in November 2025, more and more older Australians were reporting being significantly worse off.
“Unacceptably long wait times to access services, price gouging in fees and the government’s reliance on a broken algorithm for conducting assessments are common complaints being raised with me,” Senator Pocock said.
“We need to be able to keep older Australians safely living at home for as long as possible and the Albanese Government needs to step up and fix reforms to aged care that are failing.
“Support at Home is not helping older Australians in the way the Federal Government promised and that’s having a deeply distressing, very human impact.
“A growing number of older Australians are getting in touch to say they can no longer afford help with the absolute basic necessities of life, from showering safely to preparing a nutritious meal.
“We have to do better than this as a country at looking after every generation, from youngest to oldest and that’s why together with the Coalition, the Greens and my crossbench colleagues we are calling on the Minister to make urgent changes to the Support at Home program.”
The letter highlights both the social and economic costs of failing to deliver adequate supports, especially with showering highlighting that around 1 in 3 Australians aged over 65 falls at least once every year. Falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalisation and injury death, with about 50% occurring in the home. The bathroom and shower are one of the highest-risk locations in the home and consequences of a fall are substantial: fractures, loss of independence and sometimes even death. Older Australians have the highest hospitalisation rate for falls and mortality rates increase significantly with age. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2023-2024 fall injuries were estimated to have cost the Australian health system over $5 billion.
“Assisting older Australians with showering is a basic dignity, but it also helps to prevent falls and people finding themselves in hospitals,” Senator Pocock said.
“Our hospitals cannot take the strain of a broken aged care system, and we all pay the price if we don’t provide the older Australians with affordable support to age at home.
“I also find it astounding that both the Albanese Government and the federal public service are allowing an algorithm to determine funding outcomes for older Australians in need of support.
“These decisions need to be made by a human for humans and we’re calling on Minister Rae to immediately cease the use of a broken algorithm in undertaking aged care assessments.
“I thank Senator Ruston and Senator Allman-Payne for their leadership on this issue and my crossbench colleagues for throwing their support behind this push to get a better outcome for older Australians and their carers.”
Questioning at Senate Estimates has revealed that more than 230,000 older Australians are either waiting to be assessed for a Support at Home package or to receive one after being assessed as eligible. This waitlist is forecast to surpass 300,000 in June 2030 at which time the need will be almost double the available supply of packages (44%). State and Territory health ministers have said 3,100 aged care patients are currently stranded in hospitals awaiting either a residential aged care placement or Support at Home package.
The letter has been released to coincide with a new “Care Repair” campaign launched yesterday by the Daily Telegraph.