Ombudsman finds aged care assessment algorithm unreasonable and unfair
The Commonwealth Ombudsman has found that the federal government's algorithm for assessing the level of care older Australians are entitled to is unreasonable, unfair and lacks human oversight, according to a Guardian Australia report published on 26 October 2026.
The tool is the government's mandatory Integrated Assessment Tool, known as the IAT, which is used to assess what support older people need at home. The Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, set out his findings in a 104-page report. Under the law, automated IAT decisions cannot be overridden or changed, even when they are clinically inappropriate. Aged care assessors are barred from overriding the funding package the tool recommends, even when that recommendation is wrong.
The report also found there is no public information that meaningfully explains how the IAT turns the information put into it into an outcome. In the Ombudsman's view, a reasonable person would lack confidence that the system is fair and consistent.
Mr Anderson said the legislation would need to change so that assessors can alter clinically incorrect algorithmic decisions themselves.
The Ombudsman also found that the department failed to enforce contractual quality controls. It did not verify whether assessors held the clinical qualifications that are mandatory for the role. In addition, the report found that department public information suggested key trials and consultation supported the IAT in its current form. Those trials and consultation related to earlier versions of the tool and earlier legislation. The Ombudsman further found that transparency recommendations from the robodebt royal commission had been ignored.
The government introduced the algorithm to ensure consistent funding, saying some assessors were over-funding elderly people. ABC News reported that position in August.
The Ombudsman's investigation followed about 800 complaints, and ABC News reported that the government had committed $18 million to reviewing the IAT. The investigation had been under way since at least April 2026, when it was first reported. Earlier in the year, advocates warned that the My Aged Care funding algorithm could become Australia's next robodebt.
The Labor government has resisted calls from across parliament to scrap the assessment algorithm. In August, ABC News reported that the government was standing by the tool.
On 15 October, the minister for aged care, Sam Rae, announced that the government will commission an independent expert review of the aged care classification and prioritisation assessment mechanisms.
The Australian Human Rights Commission's commissioners had welcomed the Ombudsman's probe into automated aged care assessments. They stressed the need for human oversight, fairness and accessible review.
