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Key events 14m ago Australia not heading towards recession, RBA chief economist says 1h ago Inflation acceleration sharpens expectations for interest rate rise 4h ago Australia Post chief paid ‘mind-blowing’ $1.2m bonus 5h ago Australia pays biggest bill for global diesel crisis 6h ago eSafety commissioner and family subjected to ‘onslaught of online abuse and threats’ 6h ago Shoebridge to pitch increased welfare spending, hike in tax-free threshold 6h ago Inflation expected to rise to 4.2% Melissa Davey Aged care department grilled over decision to ban algorithm override powers Returning to the aged care algorithm, senator David Pocock has asked Department of Health and Ageing officials a key question many have been left asking: double quotation mark When the department discovered at the 11th hour – just days before the 1 November rollout, that the aged care rules 2025 had been drafted so rigidly that they legally prohibited clinical overrides, why did the government choose to enforce a complete ban on overrides and quietly change the user manuals? Rather than owning up to the legal drafting error and amending the legislation to maintain its multiple public and private promises to assessors that they would have override? The department revealed the decision to remove override was actually made in 2024.
It just wasn’t communicated consistently between the multiple teams working on the tool, which is used to assess the level of support older Australians are entitled to. Pocock put to the department officials: “It’s a huge error . Where is the accountability for this?” First assistant secretary Greg Pugh responds: “We have accepted the recommendation of the ombudsman to be in a position to undertake a root cause analysis of exactly what occurred.” Petra Stock Western Australians could be first to access plug-in solar Renters and apartment dwellers in Western Australia could be the first in Australia to gain access to plug-in solar, with the state government opening consultation on the technology on Wednesday.
Plug-in solar systems, also called balcony solar , are small, standalone systems that can be attached to balconies or used in back yards and plugged into power points, offsetting the energy used by household appliances. Researchers from RMIT University have estimated Australians living in capital cities could save between $226 and $372 each year with a plug-in system. The consumer technology has gained popularity overseas, and is available in the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand.
While units can be sold in Australia, they are not yet legal to plug in and use. The WA energy minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, announced consultation on a safety standard, the first step of a move to legalise the technology. She said: double quotation mark For too long, the benefits of cheap solar have been out of reach for anyone who doesn’t own their roof.
That isn’t fair, and the Cook Labor Government is doing something about it. Heidi Lee Douglas , chief executive of the advocacy group Solar Citizens, welcomed the announcement: double quotation mark All Australians deserve to save money on power by harnessing the sun. We look forward to renters, apartment dwellers and low income homes being able to plug-in, switch-on and save, save, save.
In September, federal, state and territory energy ministers agreed to explore the safe deployment of plug-in solar. A solar power station on a balcony railing. Photograph: Ronald Rampsch/Alamy Melissa Davey Aged care algorithm under scrutiny in estimates Greens senator Penny-Allman Payne is grilling Department of Health and Ageing staff about the aged care algorithm following a scathing ombudsman report , which found a tool used to assess support at-home entitlements for older Australians is unfair, unreasonable and leading to poor outcomes.
She asked why aged care assessors were assured for months before the rollout of the algorithm that if the tool made a wrong funding package recommendation they would have the ability to override the algorithm and make sure their client received the right level of support. Despite those multiple assurances to the aged care sector both publicly and privately , the department of health updated user manuals for the tool to say overriding the tool would be illegal and was banned, shortly before the tool was launched in November. The deputy secretary of the department of health, Sonja Stewart, admitted the decision to ban assessor overrides was locked in by government in 2024, but departmental officials spent months giving incorrect guidance to health workers that clinician.
First assistant secretary Greg Pugh admitted that different teams within the department were working under entirely different assumptions, some believing human override was banned, while another team built IT features and told the public and assessment agencies that clinicians could change incorrect scores. Benita Kolovos Ambulance patients who abuse paramedics will have to pay for care, Victoian premier vows Violent and abusive ambulance patients will be forced to pay for their care under a Victorian Labor election pledge to strip them of their membership. The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll , has taken a ride on Labor’s big red campaign bus to Sunshine, in Melbourne west, to make the commitment.
He said: double quotation mark If you assault a paramedic, if you threaten or intimidate a paramedic, it does not give you the right to have free public transport by that paramedic. It is wrong, and we need to call it out and have a zero-tolerance approach. Concession card holders whose ambulance bill is normally covered, even if they don’t have a membership, would lose their fee exemption if demonstrating such behaviour.
The government says there will be guardrails for patients with dementia, an acquired brain inquiry and other mitigating circumstances. Patrick Commins Treasury boss says government spending not to blame for high inflation Jenny Wilkinson , the Treasury secretary, says government spending is not adding to the country’s inflation challenge, and the surprisingly strong pick-up in the private sector has contributed to the recent upswing in price pressures. double quotation mark Since the middle of 2025 ... we have observed public demand growth coming off and private demand growth lifting. So public demand has made less of a contribution to economic growth over this last period than private demand.
Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson (left) during Senate estimates on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Jane Hume , senator and deputy opposition leader, pointed to numerous economists who have said high government spending was adding inflationary pressure. But the Treasury boss also said changes in the overall budget position over the last 18 months “have taken some pressure from the government out of the economy”. double quotation mark There is a separate argument about whether there’s additional activity that should be taken out.
But ... if you’re asking me whether the changes in the net fiscal position have contributed to this increase in inflation that we have observed over the past 18 months, then I think it’s very hard to sustain that argument. Jack Larkin Racism affecting patients, GPs and healthcare workers, report reveals One in three GPs reported witnessing racism towards patients in the past 12 months, according to data in the 2026 Health of the Nation report. The report also showed that one in five GPs reported experiencing racism from a patient within their practice.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president, Dr Michael Wright, said the results show that racism continues to affect patients, GPs and healthcare workers across Australia. He called for better monitoring and measurement of racism in the healthcare system. double quotation mark No healthcare professional should face racism at work, and no patient should experience racism when accessing healthcare. Every Australian deserves safe, respectful and culturally responsive healthcare.
Racism has no place in our health system. The RACGP has called on all levels of government to adopt the National Anti-Racism Framework and invest in its implementation. The report also found the proportion of general practitioners bulk-billing all of their patients has more than doubled in a year.
Henry Belot Continuing on from last post ... Greens senator Barbara Pocock has criticised the high salaries at the Future Fund: double quotation mark $2.2 million is an outrageous sum of money for a single public servant to earn. What’s more, we see the number of highly paid people on more than a million bucks in the Future Fund leaping from 11 to 17, and only one woman among them.
Australians across the country, who can barely afford groceries, will share my outrage. Greens senator Barbara Pocock. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images The government and the Future Fund have justified the remuneration based on the scale of investments being made, the risk involved, and the need to secure the best possible investment managers in a competitive and well-paid finance industry.
In the private sector, senior managers at major Australian banks commonly receive annual bonuses of more than $1m . But these salaries remain controversial with shareholders . Henry Belot Million-dollar public servants: Future Fund staff paid more than $1m jumps from 11 to 17 The number of federal public servants being paid more than $1m at one government agency has increased from 11 to 17 in one year.
Guardian Australia reported 11 managers at Australia’s sovereign wealth fund , the Future Fund, were paid significantly more than the prime minister. One was paid $1.5m, more than double Anthony Albanese’s salary. The Future Fund’s chief corporate affairs officer, Will Hetherton , told a Senate estimates hearing the number of staff receiving more than $1m increased in the last financial year.
Hetherton said one public servant at the fund was paid $2.2m, including a deferred short term bonus and a long-term incentive. Greens senator Barbara Pocock said no other Australian government employee earned that much money. She asked Hetherton to justify the remuneration, who said: double quotation mark The approach to remuneration is set by the board and has been in place since the fund was established.
There have been some tweaks along the way, but it is largely the same approach. The Future Fund is really quite distinct from other agencies and departments within the public service. Our job is to maximise risk-adjusted returns and we operate in competitive global markets both for investment opportunities and talent.
The board’s remuneration strategy reflects that. Short-term incentives and long-term incentives are tied directly to investment performance. A large part of the remuneration that is paid and reported in detail in annual reports is at risk and reflects the strong performance of the fund.
Hetherton told the estimates hearing the fund had delivered a return of 14.8% in the last financial year, adding $37.4bn to the portfolio. Cait Kelly Former secretary paid almost $900k after being sacked after welfare debacle Former Department of Employment and Workplace Relations secretary Natalie James was paid an $828,980 “termination benefit” after being sacked by the Albanese government in February. James’ contract was cut short by 18 months after two commonwealth ombudsman reports found the targeted compliance framework was operating unlawfully and cancelling people’s welfare payments when it should not have been.
Despite this controversy, and the huge amount of stress and financial concern for some of the most vulnerable Australians, it was just revealed in Senate estimates that James got paid almost $900,000 on her way out the door. The payment was part of DEWR’s $12.9m redundancy costs for the 2025-26 financial year. Department of Employment and Workplace Relations secretary Natalie James during Senate estimates on 26 February 2025.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Cait Kelly Likely compensation for at least 50,000 people for illegal welfare payment cancellation The head of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Simon Duggan , has defended the decision to turn the majority of the targeted compliance framework (TCF), the automated system that issues welfare penalties, back on. The TCF was operating unlawfully, cutting off or reducing the income of an estimated 310,000 people between 2020 and 2024. Payment cancellations related to compulsory activities have now resumed.
Opening Senate estimates this morning, Duggan said the government had begun the process of offering compensation but that anyone who believes they are affected should apply: double quotation mark The department will be proactively inviting 50,652 people to apply for compensation, who have been identified through data analysis as most likely to be eligible for compensation under the requirements of the CDA scheme. He said the deponent is monitoring the system as payment cancellations begin to roll out. Duggan also said there were four other elements which have not been turned on yet: double quotation mark The remaining four paused elements of the TCF, all of which relate to ensuring that legally required human discretion is supported in decision-making, will remain paused until further safeguards and assurance arrangements are in place.
At this stage, those elements are expected to resume in the first quarter of 2027, subject to completion of comprehensive system decision-making and assurance work.
Source: The Guardian
