Ruston raises concerns over aged care reforms

The Shadow Minister for Aged Care has aired serious concerns about the Government’s aged care reforms – legislation she previously supported – as pressure on the rollout builds.

On 2GB radio on Monday, 6 April, Anne Ruston described a litany of problems with the aged care reforms as News Corp continued covering issues that The Weekly SOURCE has been reporting on for months.

Senator Ruston said she is hearing “really terrible stories” of older Australians struggling to access home care due to rising costs, with some “forced” to go without basic services.

“They are choosing not to have a shower because they simply can’t afford to pay for it,” she said.

“It is an outrageous situation in Australia. I think there are some really serious questions the Government needs to answer as to how it has let this happen.”

She also criticised the increased regulatory burden on providers under the new Aged Care Act, arguing it has reduced flexibility and added layers of compliance.

“The Act has stripped away flexibility and replaced it with layer after layer of compliance and burden,” Ruston said.

The complexity of the reforms also came under fire, with the Senator saying that even after three years in the portfolio, she still finds them difficult to navigate.

“How an older Australian or their families can understand how these reforms actually work completely and utterly mystifies me,” she said.

Ruston also questioned the Government’s plan to roll the Commonwealth Home Support Program into Support at Home, describing CHSP as “much easier, much simpler, much cheaper”.

“They actually want to get rid of that,” she said.

In the media

Aged care has remained in the spotlight this week, with News Corp’s Care Repair campaign highlighting cases of older Australians seeking reviews of decisions made by the Government’s Integrated Assessment Tool, as well as concerns over Easter surcharges leaving some without services.

Ruston and the Coalition supported the Aged Care Bill 2024 when it passed Parliament in November 2024.