When an older Australian reaches the point of needing aged care, they are often at their most vulnerable. They're looking for help, dignity and someone who will listen. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has handed down a damning verdict on Labor's aged-care algorithm, exposing a government that intentionally switched off human override, ignored the lessons of robodebt and left older Australians to pay the price. He has found the government's handling of it to be unreasonable. This means there are serious questions about whether older Australians can trust their care needs will be assessed fairly. It means families will be lying awake at night, wondering whether a computer has got it wrong. And here is the most troubling part: the system was designed so that qualified assessors cannot override the computer when it makes a mistake. Think about that. A trained professional sees exactly what a person needs, but they are powerless to act on it because the algorithm says otherwise, because this Labor government has decided an algorithm knows what is best for your grandparent.

Take Neil from Kadina. He's 83 and has lived with motor neurone disease for 20 years. He lives alone with no family nearby. Back in 2018, Neil was approved for a level 4 home-care package. Recently, his condition has deteriorated. He was reassessed in the hope of moving to a level 8 package. What was the outcome? It was to stay on the same package that he was on. Neil and so many other older Australians in regional South Australia are not just numbers. They are Australians who need care.

Aged-care needs are too important to be left to an algorithm. That is why the coalition has been fighting for a simple safeguard: a qualified assessor must be able to step in and override the decision. It is common sense. Our bill has already passed the Senate, opposed by Labor. The Ombudsman has recommended the very same safeguard, yet what has Labor done? It has merely noted the recommendation. More than 200,000 older Australians are waiting for aged-care support. Every one of them is someone's mother, father, grandparent or friend. They have worked hard, raised families and built our communities. Of course technology has a role to play. It can support the work of skilled professionals. But it can never replace human judgement. This government must act on the Ombudsman's findings. Older Australians deserve better. They deserve care, not a computer generated score.