Butler: cost of failure on health funding deal would be ‘very significant’
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, said he is “cautiously optimistic” the federal government will reach a deal with states and territories on health funding and the timing of changes to the NDIS, although he said the country was “running out of time” to reach one.
Butler told RN Breakfast:
I think everyone understands today is critical. … The cost of failure will be very significant because there is a shared commitment not only to ensure our hospitals run well and deal with some changes in the population … but also I think all jurisdictions recognise the need to get the NDIS back on track and ensure that it meets its original objectives.
Key events
National cabinet meeting today to hash out hospital funding and gun buyback details
National cabinet will meet today in Sydney after the Albanese government offered to delay the start of the new program for early intervention autism services, part of a proposed deal to secure an agreement on hospitals and disability funding.
Premiers and chief ministers from across the country look likely to agree to the deal, which would push back the start of the new $2bn Thriving Kids scheme to October. It had been due to start on 1 July, but state governments said they weren’t ready to take the responsibility for the program yet.
Additional details meant to appeal to states and territories include budget funding “adjustments” that would benefit some smaller regions as they struggle with rising costs for health and hospital services.
Albanese will also press for a commitment to the new gun buyback program, set to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Queensland and the Northern Territory have so far refused to sign up.
Teenager’s body found in NSW Blue Mountains
NSW police found the body of a 16-year-old boy yesterday who had gone missing in the Blue Mountains.
Officials said two boys, aged 16 and 17, had traveled to the area on Tuesday for a three-day camping trip near Mt Hay. The older boy activated his personal locator beacon on Wednesday evening after the pair became separated.
A land and air search later found the 17-year-old and he was winched from a campground in the area, although the rescue teams could not find the younger boy.
Officials continued searching, and found the body of the 16-year-old in a creek in Blue Gum Forest, in the Blue Mountains national park.
A post-mortem examination will be carried out and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
More than 2.3m reports of unauthorised practices against NDIS participants in 2024-25
Cait Kelly
In 2024-25, there were more than 2.3m incidents of unauthorised use of restrictive practices against NDIS participants, including locking people in rooms, sedated with medicine, or physically holding them down.
Across the year 739,418 people were affected by unauthorised restraints, which were then reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NQSC).
On top of this, there were 34,104 other reportable incidents across the year, mostly concerning the alleged abuse and neglect (43.6%), followed by serious injury, including accidents (33.4%).
In 2024-25, total expenditure on disability services was $51.1bn, an increase of 5.5% compared to 2023-24 and an average annual growth rate since 2019 of 16.2%.
Cait Kelly
In response to the aged care data, the Greens spokesperson for older people, senator Penny Allman-Payne, said:
This is a national shame. Eight months is far too long for someone in their 80s or 90s to have to wait for help.
The shortage of aged care is the direct and intended consequence of Labor’s decision to ‘ration’ care through the limited release of home care packages.
Older Australians are dying waiting up to a year or more for care, and the major parties would rather fund nuclear submarines and handouts for big corporations than make sure our parents and grandparents are looked after in those final stages of life.
When the Greens opposed Labor’s new Aged Care Act in the Parliament, we warned the government that this is what would happen.
In a wealthy country like ours, our parents and grandparents should be able to get the care they need at the time that they need it.
Wait-time blow-out for at-home aged care services
Cait Kelly
The median wait time between older Australians getting approved for in-home care packages and the support starting has blown out to 245 days, up from 118 days in 2023-24, according to data released by the Productivity Commission.
On top of this, the median time to receive an aged care assessment increased by 22.7% (from 22 to 27 days) in 2024-25.
The proportion of residential aged care services that met total care minute targets was still under 50%, but increased between 2023-24 (34.0%) and 2024-25 (45.9%).
The data comes just after the Department of Health and Ageing revealed in Senate estimates last year that, as of 31 October 2025, there were 266,352 people waiting for aged care.
This included 113,150 people waiting for an aged care needs assessment, 107,281 people on the National Priority System waiting for a package at their approved level, and an additional 45,921 people waiting for a Simple Assessment for CHSP (commonwealth home support program).
Good morning
Hello, it’s Nick Visser here, ready to take you through today’s news as it happens.
National cabinet is meeting today in Sydney, where premiers and chief ministers look likely to agree to a deal from the federal government offering to delay the start of a new program for early intervention autism services under changes to the NDIS, and provide budget top-ups for smaller states, part of efforts to secure an overdue deal on hospitals and disability funding.
Anthony Albanese will also push national cabinet to thrash out details of the federal government’s looming gun buyback program, set to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, even as Queensland and the Northern Territory refuse to sign up.
Let’s get into it.
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