Aged care assessors could overrule the computer tool
Since November 2025 a computer tool has set the level of aged care older people get. Assessors cannot change it. This bill has already passed the Senate. It would give the final say back to the trained person.
Official name: Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026
- Aged care assessors could use their own expert judgment. The computer tool could not limit them.
- Decision letters would have to explain how the tool was used.
- Anyone assessed since 1 November 2025 could ask to be assessed again if they think the tool got it wrong.
- The Senate passed it on 2 July 2026. It is now in the House of Representatives.
Who it affects
- Older people being assessed for aged care: A trained assessor would have the final say on how much care they need. The computer tool would only help.
- People assessed since 1 November 2025: They could ask for a new check if they think the tool got their needs wrong.
- Aged care assessors: They could change or note down a result based on their own expert judgment.
- Families of older people: They would get more detail on how a care level was decided.
A computer sets care levels
Before an older person can get aged care paid for by the government, a trained assessor checks what help they need. The result decides what services they can get. It also decides how much money goes to their care.
The new Aged Care Act 2024 started on 1 November 2025. Since then, assessors use a computer tool called the Integrated Assessment Tool. The tool works out a care level from the answers.
The senators who brought the bill say assessors can no longer change the tool's result at the time of the check. They cannot add notes to it either. That is true even when the assessor can see the tool has missed something.
The Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine is a group of doctors who care for older people. It calls this a patient safety issue. It says the tool does not properly measure frailty or poor eyesight and hearing. It says it misses poor diet, bladder control and abuse of older people.
The senators say 834 requests to review the tool's results were made in the first five months. That compares with 170 in the whole year before. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has started an investigation into the tool. The Ombudsman looks into complaints about government agencies.
Who brought the bill
This is a private bill. That means it did not come from the government. Three senators brought it into the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, on 23 June 2026. They are Senator Anne Ruston, Senator Penny Allman-Payne and Senator David Pocock.
The senators say MPs from across Parliament signed an open letter. It asks for a human to be back in charge of the result.
Assessors get the final say
The bill adds a new rule to the two parts of the Aged Care Act that deal with checks. One part is the needs check, which works out what help a person needs. The other part sets their funding level.
In both, the assessor's judgment "must not be limited by the assessment tool". It also must not be limited by the Aged Care Rules 2025, the detailed rules that sit under the Act. Notes in the law would say the tool is there to support the assessor.
Say an assessor visits a woman who is losing weight. She seems frightened of a family member. The tool may give her a low score. Under this bill, the assessor could record a higher level of need based on what they saw.
Clearer decision letters
The System Governor is the official in charge of the aged care system. When they set a person's care level, they send a letter with the decision.
The bill would make that letter explain how the decision was made. It would have to say how the tool was used. It would also say how any other needed steps were met.
Second look for past assessments
The new rules would apply to checks done after the bill becomes law. This holds even if the check started earlier.
People checked before then could ask for a new check. They must believe the tool or the rules made their result wrong. A request would count as a decision that a new check is needed. So it would go ahead.
People whose funding level was set before the change could also ask for a new one. Their request would be treated as a formal application.
Waiting in the House
The law would start the day after it became law. A bill becomes law when the Governor-General signs it. The Governor-General stands in for the King.
The Senate passed the bill on 2 July 2026. It was brought into the House of Representatives, the lower house, on 11 August 2026.
The House would now need to debate and pass it. Private bills from the Senate need the government to make time for them in the House. Many never get a vote.
How they voted
| Vote | Result |
|---|---|
| Vote to end debate Senate, 2 July 2026 Labor 20 no, Liberal 16 aye, Greens 10 aye, One Nation 4 aye, Independent 1 aye | Ayes won 31 to 20 |
| Vote on the main idea Senate, 2 July 2026 Labor 20 no, Liberal 17 aye, Greens 10 aye, One Nation 4 aye, Independent 1 aye | Ayes won 32 to 20 |
| Final vote Senate, 2 July 2026 Labor 20 no, Liberal 17 aye, Greens 10 aye, One Nation 4 aye, Independent 1 aye | Ayes won 32 to 20 |
| Vote on a change House of Representatives, 11 August 2026 Labor 87 no, Liberal 16 aye, Nationals 8 aye, LNP 7 aye, Independent 7 aye, One Nation 2 aye, Centre Alliance 1 aye, Greens 1 aye | Noes won 87 to 42 |
Its journey through Parliament
| 23 Jun 2026 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 23 Jun 2026 | Senate: Second reading moved |
| 02 Jul 2026 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 02 Jul 2026 | Senate: Second reading agreed to |
| 02 Jul 2026 | Senate: Third reading agreed to |
| 11 Aug 2026 | House of Representatives: Introduced and read a first time |