Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

We've had a number of conversations with providers. As I've said, there is no provision for us to prevent them from passing on costs. They can take this conversation as a clear message from me that I don't expect that there should be costs passed on to consumers, and we will be monitoring that very closely. As I said, the process that we'll go through off the back of the royal commission report, which will do a number of things that's been talked about during this debate, will increase the capacity of the system, but we're also looking to reform the delivery of home-care services. The actions and the way that the providers conduct themselves as part of this process will certainly inform what we're looking to do, including how we manage the issue of fees and charges providers charge to consumers. As I've said to you a couple of times now, this is a significant area of concern for the government.