Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

The government is very pleased to have worked with the opposition and indeed with parliamentarians from across the parliament both on the first round of legislative reforms that will usher in the new aged-care arrangements from 1 November and on the bill that is before the parliament now. As Senator Ruston indicates, we have continued to engage in those positive and constructive negotiations with the opposition over this sitting period and we are grateful for their genuine desire to help us build a better aged-care system. We also, of course, now and always listen to older Australians. This is about them. Older Australians deserve our support. They deserve the very best aged-care system that our country can deliver. And that is what we are determined to bring into being.

We know that there is increasing demand on the aged-care system, and we will continue to see that as our population ages. To keep up with increased demand, the Albanese government is bringing forward the release of the 83,000 additional home-care places. We will make an extra 20,000 home-care packages available in the next eight weeks until the new Aged Care Act comes into effect. Once the new Support at Home program comes into place, we will provide support to a further 63,000 extra older Australians in its first eight months by 30 June 2026.

This is a responsible decision. It is a decision that will deliver more care faster to older Australians who need it most while maintaining the medium-term fiscal save that was a key pillar of our aged-care reforms last year.