An unlikely alliance of Independents, Greens and Coalition Senators is set to force amendments to the Government’s aged care legislation that would require the release of 40,000 additional Home Care Packages by the end of the year.
If passed, it would mark the first time since its re-election in 2022 that the Albanese Government has been defeated in the Senate. The blow comes just as the Government was seeking to push through its Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 and Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025, following last year’s bipartisan support for the new Aged Care Act.
Momentum shifted last week after the Senate Inquiry into the Delivery of Aged Care Services heard that more than 121,000 older Australians are waiting to be assessed and nearly 5,000 died in 2025-26 while waiting for their correct Home Care Package. These revelations galvanised non-Labor Senators into action.
ACT Senator David Pocock will today move an amendment requiring the immediate release of 20,000 Home Care Packages. Shadow Minister for Aged Care Anne Ruston has flagged a second amendment requiring another 20,000 by year’s end and 43,000 more in the first half of 2026. The Greens are reported to support both measures.
On ABC Radio yesterday (2 September), Senator Ruston accused the Government of wilfully holding back support:
“They’ve got the capacity for this to happen, and they simply, by their own choice, aren’t doing it.”
Ruston confirmed she would still support the Bill, noting:
“Without this legislation, the Act can’t come into being on the 1st of November.”
The Government’s withholding of Packages has dominated debate in both houses this week. New Aged Care Minister Sam Rae has faced sustained attacks during Question Time, while the Bills were read for a second time in the Senate.
Meanwhile, dozens of stories of hardship have emerged – from delayed assessments to older Australians dying while waiting for support. These accounts, shared in the Senate Inquiry and on the floor of Parliament, are fuelling cross-bench demands for urgent action.
