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Government makes concession on controversial aged care assessment tool
The government has done a partial U-turn on its controversial aged care integrated assessment tool that critics said had no human override capability, and was being reviewed.
The IAT involves an assessor asking an older person questions about their physical, social and personal circumstances to determine how much government-funded home support they are eligible to receive.
Ahead of the IAT’s launch, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing quietly added an algorithm to classify IAT responses and determine a funding classification. The department’s user manual states that assessors must accept the IAT’s classification outcome when assigning home support.
This has caused hundreds of complaints and requests for internal review.
This morning, the aged care minister, Sam Rae, who has been in hot water over the issue, has told the ABC that in limited circumstances the system will now allow some human oversight for complex cases.
In some limited circumstances, people’s complex circumstances don’t necessarily fit neatly into a framework. And in those small number of circumstances, we want the system governor to be able to make the necessary decisions to get the most appropriate outcomes for older people …
We’ve listened and we’ve done the policy work to make sure that we get the best outcomes for older people.
Key events
‘There is always more that we can do’ Anne Aly says further gambling reforms a possibility
Anne Aly – who doesn’t gamble – says it’s Australians to want to have a “flutter” or gamble, is a part of the culture, which makes reform difficult.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier, the minister for small business, said while she doesn’t believe it’s inevitable that the government will have to make some serious adjustments to its reforms to get the Coalition or Greens over the line, there could be more changes to it down the track.
(I’ll also note here that the reforms don’t impact your ability to have a “flutter”, they just restrict companies being able to advertise that to you).
Asked if she’s comfortable with kids still being able to regularly seeing ads, Aly says Labor is undertaking “the biggest sweep of gambling reforms that any government has ever taken”.
There is always more that we can do. We are not a government that sits still. We are a government that undertakes action and that keeps on moving, whether it’s in terms of raising wages for minimum wage workers that we are done ever since we’ve come into office in 2022, whether it’s tax cuts for Australians that we’ve consecutively delivered in 2022, whether it’s gambling reform, but there is always more to do.
Following on from last post …
RN Breakfast host, Mel Clarke, asks Rae why the government is always being dragged by its feet on aged care reforms.
You might remember in the Senate last year the government was about to lose a vote between David Pocock, the Greens and Coalition which would have forced 20,000 extra home care packages to come online as the waiting list for the support blew out. The government then cut a deal with the Coalition to try and claim it as a win.
This time Clarke points out there’s another private member’s bill which does something similar to what the government is now doing – by putting human override back into the system.
Rae won’t comment on the politics, and again tries to defend the system.
I’m not going to weigh in on the politics of the Senate. It’s not my natural habitat, I’m afraid. What I can tell you is we’ve been listening to older people. We always said we would do that all the way through this process. I make regular changes to the way this system operates to get better outcomes. This is a point that we’ve been discussing publicly and I’ve been engaged with across the entire community for a period of time and made clear that I was giving this consideration.
Minister defends aged care automated tool after key concession
Sam Rae, the aged care minister, claims he’s been clear “all the way through” that the controversial integrated assessment tool would require ongoing refinement.
Rae tells ABC RN Breakfast there’s been misunderstanding and confusion over the system in trying to justify the tool, and says there is still some human engagement in the process.
But he’s announced this morning that the government will allow human override of the tool in some complex cases, after receiving hundreds of complaints from older people in the system.
But he’s not actually clear on what defines a “complex” case and says the trigger for the additional clinical assessment (the human override of the tool) will be “subject to some of the conversations we want to have over this winter break”.
Older people and their family members already have this option to seek a review … within the initial assessment process, there’s a review component. So they can already seek a review. The older person or as I said a supporter can seek a review through that review process. This is another option where clinical judgment is applied. We think this will apply to a very small number of assessments but where the needs of that person aren’t captured. And so there needs to be an escalation for that.
‘We want sport to be about families, not addicting children,’ says Leeser
Julian Leeser won’t reveal exactly where the Coalition’s red line is on the government’s gambling legislation, but does say it’s being looked at closely, and the guiding principle is that kids shouldn’t be infiltrated with gambling ads while they’re watching sport with the family.
The government’s gambling bill restricts ads to three per hour between 6:30am and 8:30pm on TV, but we know a lot – if not most – sporting matches are still going well after 8:30pm or are even starting after 8:30pm.
That’s in contrast to the former Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s proposal for all online gambling ads to be banned during, one hour before and one hour after games.
Whenever my colleagues and I talk about gambling restrictions, it’s always on the basis that we want to protect children and families that are enjoying sport. Sport is family time, and it’s time that across the generations people enjoy games … that shouldn’t be interrupted by gambling. And sometimes gambling, particularly online gambling, can destroy lives. So it’s important that we do restrict some of this behaviour and I know we’ll be looking at those laws closely.
Asked if he agrees with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young that more should be done to ensure parents are protected from gambling, Leeser says he’s “sympathetic” to the position.
Children are much better off when parents spend their money on essential services, getting them to school, making sure they’re properly fed and the like rather than on gambling … So in principle, I have some sympathy for that view.
‘It’s got worse since Bondi’: Julian Leeser details experience of antisemitism
Julian Leeser, a Liberal frontbencher and Jewish MP, says he has been called a “traitor and a Mossad agent” on social media, detailing the antisemitism he’s experiencing.
He tells RN Breakfast he believes antisemitism on social media has gotten much worse, and “much worse” since the Bondi terror attack in December.
He says the saturation of antisemitism on social media is being examined by the royal commission on social cohesion, and will await their recommendations on how to hold the tech giants more responsible for the content spreading.
It’s got actually worse since Bondi. I’m called a traitor and a Mossad agent. And graphic and sexual imagery is used about me because I’m a Jew of the sort that I will not repeat on your program. I love this country. I want my children to enjoy this sort of Australia I enjoyed growing up …
I think the social media companies are more than on notice about this now. And I think this is one of the issues that the royal commission is looking at. And I think we need to look at the recommendations that come out of the royal commission.
‘Eight weeks to shred documents’: Wells on social media law delay
The main reason for Anika Wells’ media appearances this morning is to kick the Coalition and the Greens for sending that social media bill – increasing fines for platforms and handing the eSafety commissioner more power – into an eight-week inquiry.
Wells tells RN Breakfast that the “500-word” legislation is not complex, and doesn’t need that extra scrutiny.
She adds that the warnings from the eSafety commissioner about the risk of not being able to compel documents from the platforms, to crack down on breaches, makes the legislation “genuinely urgent”.
It’s not complex, and I think Angus Taylor should explain why he is honestly giving big tech eight more weeks to prepare their case, eight more weeks to get their ducks in a row, potentially eight weeks to shred documents now that they know these changes are coming.
I think this is genuinely urgent. I’m crestfallen. Angus Taylor has decided to walk away from bipartisanship and he should explain why he would make such a craven and expedient decision.
Wells defends gambling reforms among heavy criticisms it doesn’t go far enough
While Anika Wells might be furious that the social media bill is going to an inquiry, she’s trying to appear less fussed about the government’s gambling legislation being kicked off to be examined by the Senate.
The Greens yesterday forced the legislation into inquiry, which will report back on 17 August (in the sitting fortnight after the winter break).
Wells is doing the media rounds this morning and has shuffled over to the ABC studios and is speaking to RN Breakfast.
One of the key concerns from critics is that the legislation does nothing to stop inducements, which are incentives such as bonus bets to keep people gambling. Wells argues the government’s BetStop program addresses that.
And asked why the government isn’t all-out banning online gambling ads from TV, Wells suggests parents should just bypass free-to-air television entirely and watch through a streamer (as they don’t log in as an adult).
If you chose to watch – I don’t want to name any particular given that we’re on the ABC – but if you are watching the football World Cup on SBS, another public broadcaster, for example, you have the ability to opt out of seeing gambling advertising and from 1 January on streaming. And we know the trend for viewing in Australia is that more than half of the population now view these things online through streamers.
Anika Wells criticises Coalition and Greens for punting social media bill to inquiry
Anika Wells is having a crack at the opposition and Greens, accusing them of delaying the social media bill to an inquiry for examination.
A quick reminder: the bill doubles the penalty for platforms that breach the ban for under-16s and gives the eSafety commission more powers to compel documents from the companies.
Speaking on Sunrise earlier this morning, Wells accused the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, of siding with the big tech companies over kids and parents.
It is a craven and trivial decision for Angus Taylor to push this off for eight weeks … Until yesterday this was a bipartisan measure proudly vetted across the world and it’s on Angus Taylor to explain why a 500-word, four-page bill needs eight weeks of inquiry.
Government makes concession on controversial aged care assessment tool
The government has done a partial U-turn on its controversial aged care integrated assessment tool that critics said had no human override capability, and was being reviewed.
The IAT involves an assessor asking an older person questions about their physical, social and personal circumstances to determine how much government-funded home support they are eligible to receive.
Ahead of the IAT’s launch, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing quietly added an algorithm to classify IAT responses and determine a funding classification. The department’s user manual states that assessors must accept the IAT’s classification outcome when assigning home support.
This has caused hundreds of complaints and requests for internal review.
This morning, the aged care minister, Sam Rae, who has been in hot water over the issue, has told the ABC that in limited circumstances the system will now allow some human oversight for complex cases.
In some limited circumstances, people’s complex circumstances don’t necessarily fit neatly into a framework. And in those small number of circumstances, we want the system governor to be able to make the necessary decisions to get the most appropriate outcomes for older people …
We’ve listened and we’ve done the policy work to make sure that we get the best outcomes for older people.
Australia to give $2m in humanitarian assistance to Venezuela
The government has announced it will send $2m in humanitarian assistance to Venezuela, after it was struck by earthquakes last month.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says the full scale of the tragedy is still emerging, and the death told, which is already in the thousands, is expected to increase in coming days.
The funding, the government says, will be delivered through partners including the Red Cross and UN and will be contributed alongside other nations including the US and the UK, to provide emergency food, shelter, water, hygiene and psychosocial support.
In a statement, Wong said:
Our thoughts are with the people of Venezuela, the Australian-Venezuelan community, and all those affected by the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela. Australia’s humanitarian assistance will support access to food, shelter, medical care and other essential services.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you. Thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
It’s the final sitting day of the week, but after a big Midwinter Ball last night there might be a few wearier-than-usual eyes gracing the chambers (and the press gallery corridors).
The main legislative game for the government today will be gambling – with its reforms being introduced to the House today. They currently don’t have anyone to pass it through the Senate, but yesterday the opposition suggested they were working with Labor and hoping to “get the balance right”. The Greens have also suggested they could be in talks with the Coalition to try and force Labor’s hand into making the bill stronger. We’ll see how that shakes out today.
Let’s get cracking!
Best dressed at Canberra’s Midwinter’s Ball
It was Canberra’s night of nights last night with the staging of the press gallery’s Midwinter’s Ball.
As is customary, the political classes got dressed up in their best outfits and headed out where photographers were on hand to record their fashion efforts for posterity.
The glamorous gathering took place under the critical eye of our own Caitlin Cassidy, who judged Labor’s Anne Aly to be best on ground among the women. Aly posted to social media that she actually crocheted her own dress!
Tanya Plibersek’s husband Michael Coutts-Trotter took out Caitlin’s award for the men with his defiantly non-black jacket.
Check out our gallery here:
Taiwanese man charged over people-smuggling operation
A Taiwanese man has been charged over a failed people-smuggling operation that left campers startled when they saw a boat carrying foreign nationals land on a remote beach, Australian Associated Press reports.
The newly arrived group stunned holidaymakers when they were spotted on a far north Queensland beach before visiting a local bakery and being apprehended near a pub, the Cook MP, David Kempton, said.
About 12 people – believed to Chinese – arrived by boat at a remote camping spot before travelling to nearby Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula early on Tuesday.
A 34-year-old Taiwanese national was arrested in a supermarket car park at Weipa on Tuesday after a report of suspicious activity in the area.
Police have since charged the man with one count of aggravated offence of people-smuggling involving at least five people.
He was remanded in custody after facing the Cairns magistrates court on yesterday before his next appearance today.
The man faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if found guilty.
Another man, 30, was also detained by police pending further inquiries.
Progressive patriotism underpinning defence strategy: Conroy
Tom McIlroy
The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, says strong national defence and a strong industry to provide the equipment required for protecting Australia is part of the government’s “progressive patriotism”.
Conroy will address the National Press Club in Canberra today, making the case that Labor, and not the Coalition, is the true party of defence and national security.
The speech will coincide with the release of the 2026 Defence Industry Development Strategy and details of the government’s defence reform process. Already it has been reported that Conroy will point to nearly $30bn in wasteful spending on defence projects. An audit found the average cost of a small sample of projects increased by nearly 40%, or $29bn, before contracts were finalised.
Conroy will say.
Progressive patriotism, in the eyes of the Albanese government – and the great labour movement – is confidence in, and celebration of, what our national project has built
It is confidence in how it is evolving, and confidence in the future. Strong defence of our country – including the need to invest in our defence industry, people and systems – is a critical part of understanding what Australian progressive patriotism looks like today.
Building our defence industry, delivering the capabilities we need, is an investment in our country and offers the further dividend of deterrence to protect what our great national project has built.
We will bring you more on the speech at lunchtime today.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
We’ll wrap up some of the overnight news before Krishani’s on deck, and also bring you a preview of today’s press club speech from the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy.
He’s arguing that Labor, these days, is the natural party for defence thanks to an ideal he describes as “progressive patriotism”. More on this soon.
