Senate Division 3 · 2 Jul 2026

Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

Carried 32 aye · 20 no

What this vote was about

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a third time. In other words, they voted to pass the bill in the Senate. The bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives for their consideration.

What does this bill do?

According to the explanatory memorandum, which is a document prepared by the party that introduced the bill (in this case, the Independent Senators Ruston, Allman-Payne and Pocock):

This Bill amends the Aged Care Act 2024 (the Act) to protect and clarify the discretion of approved needs assessors in conducting aged care needs assessments. The Bill makes clear that the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) and any other classification tools and requirements prescribed by the Aged Care Rules 2025 (the Rules) must operate to support, not replace, professional judgement of approved needs assessors. This Bill also provides transitional protections, including a right to reassessment, for older Australians assessed since the Act’s commencement on 1 November 2025 when assessor discretion became unprotected.

The Act's failure to protect assessor discretion has allowed the Government to establish a framework in which an algorithmic tool, rather than a qualified professional, determines classification outcomes. Under the current framework, an approved needs assessor cannot, at the point of assessment, adjust or annotate the classification outcome generated by the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) even where the assessor's professional judgment indicates the tool has not captured the individual's needs.

The Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM) has characterised this as a clinical safety issue, concluding that the tool fails to adequately capture the complexities of ageing, with identified gaps in its ability to assess frailty, sensory impairment, malnutrition, continence and elder abuse.

Context written by They Vote For You volunteers (ODbL), reproduced unchanged.

Third reading: The third reading is the chamber's final vote on the bill in the form it has reached. Passing it sends the bill to the other chamber, or on for assent.

Related bills

Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026

By party

Party	Aye	No
Australian Labor Party	0	19
Liberal–National Coalition	17	0
Australian Greens	10	1
Pauline Hanson's One Nation	4	0
Independent	1	0

Every vote

Divisions this sitting day

Every division the Senate held that day, in order; the one on this page is marked.

Division 1 Bills — Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026; Second Reading Carried Senate 31–20
Division 2 Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 - Second Reading - Agree with the bill's main idea Carried Senate 32–20
Division 3 Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 - Third Reading - Pass the bill Carried Senate 32–20
Division 4 Bills — Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026; in Committee Negatived Senate 21–31
Division 5 Bills — Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026; in Committee Negatived Senate 11–30
Division 6 Bills — Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026; in Committee Negatived Senate 11–25
Division 7 Bills — Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026; in Committee Negatived Senate 24–31
Division 8 Bills — Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026; in Committee Negatived Senate 11–22
Division 9 Committees — Selection of Bills Committee; Report Carried Senate 31–24
Division 10 Committees — Selection of Bills Committee; Report Carried Senate 34–21
Division 11 Committees — Economics References Committee; Reference Negatived Senate 24–31
Division 12 Documents — National Anti-Corruption Commission; Order for the Production of Documents Negatived Senate 15–25
Division 13 Documents — Personal Information and Privacy; Order for the Production of Documents Carried Senate 33–21
Division 14 Documents — International Relations: Australia and Nauru; Order for the Production of Documents Carried Senate 33–21
Division 15 Documents — International Relations: Australia and Papua New Guinea; Order for the Production of Documents Negatived Senate 15–24
Division 16 Documents — Nuclear Waste Management; Order for the Production of Documents Negatived Senate 15–24
Division 17 Documents — Australian Defence Force; Order for the Production of Documents Negatived Senate 15–24
Division 18 Documents — Australian Defence Force; Order for the Production of Documents Carried Senate 33–21

Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

Related bills

By party

Every vote

AYE (32)

NO (20)

Divisions this sitting day