Sky News’ Paul Murray hits out at Aged Care Minister over provider sanctions

Sky News host Paul Murray has criticised the Minister for Sports and Aged Care, Anika Wells, after The Daily Telegraph ran a story about St Jude’s Health Care Services, which has been sanctioned after failing to meet most quality standards.

Key points

• A 2023 site audit of Carinya of Bicton, operated by St Jude’s Health Care Services, found the home was non-compliant with five out of eight quality standards. 
• Despite the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission detailing where improvements could be made, and conducting assessment contacts, the home was deemed non-compliant in all eight Standards after a site audit on January 7, 2025.
• Residents said they felt embarrassed by the smell of the environment, staff lacked training and/or did not understand policies, rooms were not cleaned daily, there was no formal complaints process, while staff admitted care plans were incomplete and generic in nature
• The audit also revealed that Incidents involving possible abuse or neglect are not consistently identified, reported and responded to. In total, 38 out of 42 individual requirements were not met. 

The depth of issues found at Carinya of Bicton, located in Perth, resulted in a severe sanction that means the home cannot take on new residents and it will not receive government funding to do so until mid-July. It has been re-accredited until June 2026.

Additionally, it must appoint a specialist adviser, train staff in all areas related to non-compliance, participate in weekly meetings with the Commission, and provide regular written reports.

While he acknowledged that Minister Wells is not ‘specifically responsible’ for what happened at the home, Mr Murray openly criticised her leadership and responsibility for aged care overall.

“The Aged Care Minister is a person I have spoken of many times and I know that she loves blocking all sorts of criticism, any criticism that she receives on her Facebook page. She thinks she is on her line to one day being a lot more than she currently is, which is the Sports Minister where she flies around the country for free on the taxpayer dollar. She gets seats to all the big games,” he stated.

“But she’s also the Aged Care Minister. This is a person who loves social media, who loves the ‘girl boss’ and turning herself into a celebrity of Australian politics. Remember, she explained the federal budget through the lens of Married at First Sight. She has responsibility for aged care.”

Some of the home’s compliance concerns can be placed on a change in leadership, with St Jude’s Health Care Services — also known as Pu-Fam Pty Ltd — acquiring Carinya of Bicton from Midland Nursing Homes in early 2024.

St Jude’s Health Care Services Managing Director Binu Joseph told The Daily Telegraph they are working hard to maintain high standards of care.

“A new management team and adviser have been appointed, and significant progress has been made, supported by regular stakeholder meetings including with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission,” he said.

However, comments made by M Glenn, delegate of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, show that an assessment contact report dated December 2024 had the same deficits found in January 2025. The provider failed to reference any timeframes for improvement completion.

“Each consumer has not been provided safe, effective, tailored, or best practice personal or clinical care. High impact or high prevalence risks, including falls, diabetes, and unplanned weight loss have not been effectively identified, assessed, planned for, managed, or reviewed impacting consumers’ health and wellbeing. Deterioration of consumers’ health and condition has not been appropriately managed,” the report outlined.

“I have also considered the evidence presented shows staff do not consistently have access to accurate information to enable coordination and delivery of safe and effective personal and clinical care or sufficient understanding of consumers’ conditions to provide and coordinate care.

“Furthermore, poor staff practices, lack of staff training, low vaccination rates and insufficient information documented in the outbreak management plan to guide staff indicates the service’s infection control program is not effectively implemented or monitored.”

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Joseph said he was confident the home was on the right track and well positioned for continued improvement. He said it has committed $6 million for a major refurbishment with work already underway.

Regardless, the findings are concerning. For critics of the government, such as Mr Murray, it shows that the government’s progress in the aged care space is not necessarily as impactful as it claims.

In wrapping up his Sky News segment, Mr Murray added that Minister Wells should spend ‘a little less time on the TikTok and a little more time following up’. 

“At least the system has been able to catch what is going on there. The families deserve better let alone the residents who absolutely deserve much better than what they have been getting,” he added.

Lastly, in relation to his claims that Minister Wells is also ‘on her line to one day being a lot more than she currently is’, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that his new ministry will be confirmed on Tuesday morning, barring any late hiccups.

The assistant treasurer role and NDIS portfolio are the only vacant positions, although there is plenty of talk that after being elevated to the frontbench, Minister Wells could see her responsibilities change.