Algorithm-based tool for home support funding is cruel and inhumane, Australian aged care workers warn

‘The government valued the algorithm more than people with skills’ … Clinicians and carers say an algorithm-based aged care assessment tool is failing elderly Australians. Photograph: Rosemary Roberts/Alamy

Aged care clinicians and carers say an algorithm-based assessment tool that determines federal home support funding packages is “cruel” and “inhumane”, stripping away clinical expertise and leaving elderly people with inadequate support.

The integrated assessment tool (IAT), introduced in November, is used across aged care to determine eligibility and classification for services, including residential care.