Commonwealth Home Support Program

Haines seconded the motion, noting that her electorate also had an older population facing significant barriers to home care access. Haines argued that the delay in releasing new home care packages was having real-world implications, with the waitlist increasing by nearly 50 per cent in six months to over 120,000 people. Haines stated that high-priority applicants in her region were waiting months rather than weeks, contradicting government assurances. Haines emphasised that the sector opposed the delay and called for the release of at least 20,000 packages to stabilise the waitlist until the new system commenced.

Briskey defended the government's aged care reforms, stating that the Aged Care Act 2024 represented once-in-a-generation changes to put older people at the centre of the system. Briskey highlighted that the government had invested more than $8 billion in home care packages last year and committed to rolling out over 80,000 new places under the Support at Home program from November 2025. Briskey argued that high-priority applicants continued to receive packages within a month and that significant funding was being directed to regional and remote areas to improve service delivery. Briskey maintained that the reforms would create a simpler, fairer system that allowed older Australians to remain in their homes with dignity.