The aged care minister is defending a tool used to determine funding for older Australians living at home, despite hundreds of complaints.
The Integrated Assessment Tool was introduced in November to help distribute funding more equitably, after more than $4 billion was wrongly allocated under the old system.
More than 1000 Australians have asked for their claims to be reviewed since the tool was rolled out, a senate committee was told on Thursday.
Assessors input information about a person into the tool, which then uses an algorithm to determine how much money they are entitled to.
The outcome cannot be changed.
Health department officials told the committee there had been limited consultation with providers about the tool.
Peter Willcocks, an aged care advocate, likened the automated tool to robodebt because assessors can't opt to give clients a higher level of care than what the algorithm says they need.
