The Senate inquiry into the Support at Home program continues to unearth the depth and breadth of the program’s faults.
It has put immense pressure on providers and older people alike, created payment delays, and – according to Natalie Siegel-Brown, outgoing Inspector-General of Aged Care – is a governance problem, not a funding issue.
Here’s what has happened so far
The inquiry is examining the operations, rollout, and impacts of the Support at Home program (which commenced in November 2025).
Sector peak bodies, advocacy groups (such as Dementia Australia), and providers have raised serious concerns about long wait times, inadequate assessment processes for complex conditions like dementia, and the financial pressures caused by co-contributions.
Thus far, the inquiry has heavily scrutinised the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) algorithm, with recent hearings revealing thousands of review requests over disputed classification outcomes and automated under-assessments.
Industry stakeholders have pointed out administrative burdens, funding bottlenecks, and gaps in how care packages are assigned, prompting calls for delayed or staged program rollouts to protect service continuity.
Uniting NSW.ACT Saviour Buhagiar’s opening statement
Uniting NSW.ACT Director of Seniors Services, Saviour Buhagiar, was among the presenters at The Senate Community Affairs References Committee hearing into Support at Home at Parliament House on Tuesday September 22.
Uniting NSW.ACT supports more than 27,000 older Australians through residential aged care, home care and retirement living services across New South Wales and the ACT.
Here’s Buhagiar’s opening statement:
Every day Uniting sees both the strengths of the system and where it is failing older people.
Our central message is simple: a system cannot be described as rights-based if access to care is rationed.
Older Australians should receive the care they have been assessed as needing when they need it.
Even when funding becomes available, some older people cannot afford to use it. Full pensioners who rent can be left with as little as $54 a fortnight after essential living costs, which is less than the co-contribution required for even a mid-level package.
One of our First Nations clients in rural New South Wales has been assessed as needing Support at Home classification 8 because of complex medical needs. Yet the required co-contributions are unaffordable. They have been deemed eligible for care but cannot afford to access it.
That is the gap between rights in legislation and rights in practice.
The consequences are predictable. People deteriorate, families and carers carry greater burdens, hospitalisations increase, and older Australians enter residential aged care earlier than necessary.
We also reject the notion that provider capacity is the problem. Uniting routinely commences services within 8 to 10 days of an older person agreeing to be supported.
We understand it is a bold government that will future proof home and community care, while also picking up the tab for an historically under-funded system.
We are confident this government, in this parliamentary term, can act boldly. Frankly it has no choice.
Rights that exist in legislation but not in practice, are not rights at all.
The message is clear: Access to care has been compromised
As Buhagiar points out, if the program claims to be ‘rights-based’, the care older people need should be available when they need it.
While there are so many moving parts in the sector that impact care delivery, the inquiry is putting a spotlight on the realities of a clunky program rollout – one that is eroding trust across the board.
