Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Singapore and Japan, which took base in December 2025, and I seek leave to move a motion to take note of the document.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who made this delegation possible. To the committee secretariat: thank you for putting together a deeply informative program. To the high commissions of Singapore and the embassy in Tokyo: your expertise, coordination and on-the-ground insight were invaluable to us as a delegation. To my fellow committee members: thank you for your curiosity and spirit that you brought to this delegation. Australia's engagement with our region is one of our greatest strengths. This visit to Japan and Singapore demonstrates why, but this was not just a study tour; it was a practical opportunity to see how other countries respond to one of the defining challenges of our time: how we care for an ageing population with dignity, innovation and sustainability.

In Singapore, we visited a senior-care centre embedded in a public housing estate where older people were connected to their community, cooking, exercising and spending time together alongside childcare facilities that kept generations connected. We met staff delivering dementia care, rehabilitation and daily support, with technology strengthening care and improving outcomes. We also stepped inside a community-care apartment, a place where elders can maintain independence and care is available as their needs change.

In Japan, we saw another part of the system. We visited a residential aged-care facility where technology is integrated into daily care. Sensors monitor sleep and detect falls, robotics assists with lifting and mobility and workers use wearable support devices that reduce physical strain. We also saw residents benefiting from that support with technology helping maintain their mobility, their dignity and their quality of life within residential care and also within their community.

The lessons here are clear. There is no single model of care; there is in fact a continuum of care. Community based care, in-home support and high-quality residential aged care all have a role to play. We also had some frank conversations about how these systems are funded. In Singapore, there is a clear co-payment model. Individuals contribute to their care, supported by a government subsidies. In Japan, there is a long-term care insurance system—again, with co-contributions from users—with protections for those with lower incomes.

These are not easy conversations, but they are necessary ones because sustainability and fairness matter. Technology is part of that conversation. It can reduce workplace injury, it can support a stretched workforce and it can allow older people to live with dignity and independence. The task for governments is very clear. We need to harness technology in a way that strengthens and supports the care workforce—not replaces it—and to fund systems that are fair and sustainable. This is where Australia is getting the balance right.

Under the Albanese Labor government, we are part of the global shift towards fairer, better and more sustainable aged-care systems. These reforms delivered by this government span the full continuum of care, from strengthening our Support at Home to lifting living standards, accountability and workforce capability in residential aged care. This is about ensuring that wherever an older Australian receives care, they receive quality care.

At the core of these reforms is fairness. For too long, older Australians with the same needs received different outcomes depending on where they lived or who, in fact, conducted that assessment. The Albanese government is addressing this through the Single Assessment System and the Integrated Assessment Tool. Assessments are done by people, skilled professionals, not by AI and not by robots. Human judgement still sits at the centre of every decision. What has changed is consistency. Assessors are supported with better tools informed by data, with more than 20,000 assessments across diverse communities.

Importantly, the government is monitoring the rollout and refining of this system to ensure that people with the greatest needs also receive support faster. This reflects what we saw overseas—different systems but a shared direction—and it shows why learning from our region, understanding what works and building partnership to strengthen us all are really important. Australia is on the right path, and these reforms are setting the standard for what a modern aged-care system should be. It is about ensuring that every Australian can age with dignity, with independence where possible and with high-quality care when it is needed. That is what this government is delivering.

Question agreed to.