I want to take note specifically of the questions asked by Senator Little. There was some passion from both Senator Colbeck and myself. Senator Colbeck held the aged care portfolio the last time the Coalition was in government, and I remember sitting on the other side of this chamber listening to what he had to endure from those who were then in opposition, and the unfair treatment he received.
Let’s put some facts on the table.
When Senator Colbeck concluded his service as Aged Care Minister, the waiting time for every level of Home Care Package was between 30 and 90 days. It is now 12 months. It was between 30 and 90 days; it is now 12 months.
When Senator Colbeck completed his service as Aged Care Minister, there were 28,000 older Australians waiting for Home Care Packages. There are now more than 100,000 Australians waiting for assessment, and another 100,000 waiting for a Home Care Package.
That is why Senator Colbeck is so passionate about this issue.
The reason for my interjection in relation to the ability of a Home Care Package assessor to override this notorious algorithm is that we have heard again and again and again that this so-called Integrated Assessment Tool—the automated decision-making system being used to assess the needs of older Australians—cannot be overridden by the assessor at the point of assessment.
As a result, older Australians are pushed back in the queue because of automated decision-making. There needs to be a serious review across government of the use of automated decision-making, particularly where vulnerable Australians are involved.
Older Australians, Australians accessing the NDIS, and other vulnerable members of our community should not be subject to automated decision-making that can result in them being denied essential support without a real human being being involved in the assessment process.
That needs to change. It needs to change regardless of who is in government.
It is unacceptable that this older Australian went through a telephone assessment and that his family then had to plead for a face-to-face assessment. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I can’t.
They had lost their father and grandfather, and then, the day after the funeral, a letter arrived saying, “Congratulations, you’ve been approved for a Home Care Package.”
Surely we can do better than that.
I do have some sympathy for Senator McAllister, because she is not the responsible minister. Minister Rae, in the other place, is the responsible minister, and he is the person who needs to take responsibility. He is the person who needs to take responsibility for this Integrated Assessment Tool after being told again and again and again that it is unacceptable.
The overwhelming majority of Australians do not believe automated decision-making should be used to make life-and-death decisions about the care of older Australians.
It is also unacceptable that we now have more than 100,000 Australians waiting for assessment and another 100,000 Australians who, having already been assessed, are waiting to access the home care funding package they need.
That is completely unacceptable.
Older Australians deserve better.
