ABC’s Anne Connolly keeps focus on aged care
After inviting families to contact them with stories about their experiences with the aged care system, the ABC’s 7.30 program has aired a feature on the Government’s Integrated Assessment Tool.
Last month, the national broadcaster received a large response after putting the call out, and investigative reporter Anne Connolly (pictured below) had confirmed to The Weekly SOURCE that they were considering running a story.
On Tuesday’s 7.30 (24 March), Anne reported on the Government’s new Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), drawing comparisons with the disastrous Robotdebt policy.
The Government introduced the IAT on 1 July 2024 with the aim of standardising aged care assessments, but from 1 November 2025, when the new Aged Care Act took effect, human oversight of its outcomes was removed.
“The clinicians who do the assessments can’t override the algorithms outcomes, even when they think they’re wrong,” Anne said on the program.
Consumers being reassessed when their care needs escalate are having their requests knocked back due to IAT determinations.
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae told 7.30 that under the previous Home Care Package system: “We had $4 billion of value allocated to people incorrectly”, referring to the high number of unspent funds allocated but not used under the former system.
The spot concluded with another call out for consumers to contact the national broadcaster with stories about their aged care experiences.
"We've had 800 requests for review out of 180,000 assessments - that's less than half a percent of the total number of assessments that have been completed since November," the Minister told ABC Radio on 24 March.
"Last week I made some relatively modest but very important changes to what's called the queue rate for some of the priority categories. And that means that people who are assessed, for example, as high priority can be moved through the system a little bit faster. We've always maintained that people who are assessed as urgent receive their packages within a single month. That will continue to happen, it will always happen. Now those people who are assessed as high priority, for example, will receive their package in just a little bit over a month but certainly under two months to try and get that level of care to people as soon as possible when they need it."
Negative media attention gaining force
The Weekly SOURCE began reporting on issues with the process as early as November last year, only weeks after human oversight was removed.
The Government’s new HELF fees have also been in the spotlight in recent weeks, with reports in The Daily Telegraph about Opal HealthCare’s trial at four homes - trialling changes in line with Government guidelines.
Last November, 7.30 also reported on excessive wait times for aged care assessments – an issue The Weekly SOURCE has been covering since July 2025.
Without clearer communication from both the Government and the sector, negative media attention around the new Aged Care Act will persist.
