Aged Rights Advocacy Service

As the South Australian member of the Older Persons Advocacy Network, ARAS welcomes this important update on reforms to the aged care Integrated Assessment Tool. Assessment outcomes have a real impact on older people’s lives, and human judgement must remain central to decision-making.

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) has welcomed the Albanese Government’s commitment to reform and simplify its aged care Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), which has been subject to hundreds of complaints from older people, their families and support network including independent advocates since its introduction.

The IAT has received significant criticism from older people by replacing human clinical assessors with a digital algorithm when making decisions around aged care funding levels.

‘We welcome this sensible approach from the Government. OPAN has been raising concerns and exposing challenges with this algorithm since it was introduced and it is encouraging that the Government is listening,’ OPAN CEO Craig Gear said.

‘These assessments have a real impact on an older person’s life, so it is crucial that a human remains part of the decision making and outcomes.’

Read the full release https://opan.org.au/about-us/news-and-media/media-releases/

The recording of our World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Online Forum is now available to watch.

This year’s forum, “Empower, Prevent, Protect: A Rights-Based Approach to Elder Abuse,” focused on upholding the rights, dignity and autonomy of older people, while strengthening prevention and response efforts across our communities.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this important conversation, and to our respected speakers and leaders who shared their insights on safeguarding older people from abuse.

If you missed the forum, or would like to watch it again, you can view the recording here:

https://youtu.be/fPg-Lv9Ty1Q?si=HrJ8qS6psW8D1s-x&t=22

Please share this recording with your networks to help spread the message.

See it. Stop it. Prevent it. There’s no excuse for abuse.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Online Forum 2026 WEAAD 2026 Online Forum – "Empower, Prevent, Protect: A Rights-Base...