Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

As I said, from 1 November we will roll out an additional 80,000 packages in the first 12 months. Until then, over the course of the period between now and November, my No.1 priority is ensuring that older people continue to receive the care and services that they need, and until November we'll continue to assign packages each and every week in accordance with the national prioritisation system. I can assure the House that older people who are assessed as being high priority will continue to receive their packages within a month.

Our government continues to deliver more care for more Australians, and this brief deferral will give aged-care providers more time to prepare their clients, support their workers and get their systems ready for these historic changes.

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