Portfolio — 13 May 2026

Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae used Question Time on 13 May to lay out the aged care components of the budget, leading with the headline figure of 5,000 new residential aged care beds to be added each year [TA-260513-house-ee1b85aea947:s177]. He told the House the government has invested over a billion dollars in the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program since 2022 and will continue funding to expand capacity where demand requires it [TA-260513-house-ee1b85aea947:s177].

Beyond supply, Rae announced two targeted affordability and equity measures: no participant in the Support at Home program will be charged for personal care services such as showering, dressing or continence care; and Stolen Generations redress payments will no longer be counted against First Nations elders in residential aged care means assessments. He also pledged extended care continuity for older Australians in the final weeks of life, framing these commitments collectively as a responsible and ambitious investment in capacity, affordability, and equitable access.

Earlier in the day Rae was active in his electorate of Hawke, attending the launch of the Community and Multi-Sports Hub at Bacchus Marsh Racecourse alongside Victorian member for Eureka Michaela Settle. The project draws $4 million from the federal Thriving Suburbs Program and $4.5 million from the Victorian state government. He also joined the Darley community for the upgrade of Federation Park, noting a $400,000 federal contribution to the new facilities.

Both announcements position the minister as a conduit for joint federal-state community infrastructure investment in outer-suburban Victoria.

Rae also used his parliamentary statement to mark Anzac Day, noting he attended services at Ballan RSL, Melton RSL and Melton Christian College, with wreaths laid on his behalf at Bulla, Bacchus Marsh and Sunbury RSLs [TA-260513-house-ee1b85aea947:s095]. He acknowledged the Blackwood and Myrniong communities and praised Pentland Primary School students for hosting a civics session with the Speaker.

A separate recognition of 10-year-old constituent Harley Elliott — whose fundraising raised over $8,000 for family-violence awareness and who volunteers at a local aged care home — carried a light cross-portfolio signal, touching family violence and youth wellbeing themes alongside his core portfolio brief.

The day's two streams reinforce each other: the electorate activity and personal-story recognitions ground the minister in community service, while the budget announcement in Question Time advances the substantive aged care policy case around beds, home-care affordability, equity for First Nations elders, and end-of-life care.