Juniper welcomes stronger human oversight in aged care assessments

Juniper commends the Australian Government’s decision to introduce greater human oversight of the Integrated Assessment Tool used to determine an older person’s Support at Home services.

The government today announced proposed legislative changes that will enable assessors to intervene when the tool produces an outcome that is clearly incorrect, including decisions relating to both prioritisation and classification.

Juniper has been consistently advocating for greater human oversight in aged care assessments, including in our submission to the inquiry into the transition from the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) to Support at Home.

In our submission, we raised concerns about automated decision-making and the absence of meaningful pathways to review outcomes that have such a significant impact on older people’s lives.

Juniper CEO Russell Bricknell said the proposed legislative changes were an important acknowledgement that professional judgement must remain central to aged care assessments.

“Technology can support good decision-making, but it should never replace the expertise of trained assessors or override what they can clearly see in front of them,” Mr Bricknell said.

“We’ve seen cases where automated outcomes simply haven’t reflected an older person’s actual circumstances. When decisions affect the care, independence and wellbeing of older Australians, there must always be a pathway for human intervention.

“Older Australians deserve a system that recognises their individual circumstances, responds to changing needs and allows decisions to be reviewed when something isn’t right. These reforms are an important step towards restoring confidence in the assessment process.

“Human oversight is fundamental to a fair, transparent and genuinely person-centred aged care system, and we look forward to working with government on the design and implementation of these changes.”

Juniper thanks the Government, particularly Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae, for listening to the concerns of the sector and taking action.

We also acknowledge Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston for helping bring attention to this issue through her Private Senator’s Bill currently before the Senate.