QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr RAE (Hawke—Minister for Aged Care and Seniors) (14:01): I thank the member for the question. Firstly, can I extend my condolences to Mr Austin's family. As I said earlier this week, it stands to any reasonable person's judgement that there's not a single person in this place who wants an older Australian to die while waiting for care.

It's why our generational reforms of Australia's aged-care system have been, and continue to be, so important. The royal commission looked into older people dying while waiting for care, and, as I said earlier, at the peak of the aged-care crisis, in 2018, more than 16,000 older Australians were dying every year while waiting for care. And that aged-care royal commission released a report that was mononymously titled Neglect.

We, since being elected in 2022, have made the most significant investments in Australia's aged-care system ever. We are overhauling the aged-care system—whether it's in-home care or residential aged care—from the ground up. The way that we drive down the numbers, which we've successfully done, is to reduce the wait times for older people to receive the care that they need.

The latest data shows that we are well on our way to doing that. Standard-priority cases are waiting on average three months less, medium-priority cases are waiting two months less, and high-priority wait times are now just one to two months. Those assessed as 'urgent priority', as always, will receive their full funding within a single month.

Assessment wait times have been reduced from the worst point, where people were waiting up to 10 months, and the median wait time for comprehensive assessments is now well under a single month. Next year, the federal government will invest $47 billion— The SPEAKER: The Chief Opposition Whip, on a point of order? Mr Caldwell: On relevance, and I appreciate the tone of the minister.

But the question that Mr Austin's family particularly want to know about is the government's view in relation to the AI assessment tool and whether you will support the coalition's bill to humanise these decisions. The SPEAKER: That wasn't in the question; it's an interpretation of the question. The question was about coalition policy and the legislation the coalition has introduced.

I'll draw the minister back to the question regarding opposition policy. I understand he's outlined the government's policies and what the government's doing, but there was a part in that question about the opposition's policies. Mr RAE: Let me be very clear.

There is no artificial intelligence in our aged-care assessment system, and it is dishonest for any actor to pretend otherwise. The integrated assessment tool uses qualified human assessors to complete the clinical assessments, and that is then used to apply the aged care rules so that we have a system that is fair for every single Australian. We will continue to make sure that Australians get the very best care.

That's what they deserve. You guys should have done it when you were in government.