Labor's Shadow Assistant Minister for Aged Care, Ged Kearney, told viewers on the ABC's Q+A program that providers of aged care services did not have to account for how they spent their taxpayer funding. She claimed that the "whole aged sector" received about $20 billion in federal funding "without proper accountability or transparency for it", and that aged care operators "don't have to acquit for where that money goes".

The Commonwealth spends around $20 billion a year on the sector, almost all of it going to three programs: basic support at home; complex services at home; and full-time residential care in nursing homes. Residential care accounts for about $13 billion a year, or two-thirds of the total. Most of the rest is split between the two home-based programs.

In the case of residential care, experts said service providers were only required to report high-level information about how they spend their taxpayer subsidies. This reporting is above all focused on financial outcomes and viability.

In practice, providers can report vastly different levels of detail, and they are not required to show spending on individual facilities, let alone spending on individual residents.

However, the experts said there was some accountability.

Residential care providers must report annually to the Government, with non-government operators required to include an additional, independently audited financial statement. This statement must be given to residents or their representatives if requested.

When it comes to complex care at home, providers must submit annual financial reports to the Government detailing various categories of expenditure. They are also required to give consumers a monthly statement showing what services they have been charged for.

Finally, there is basic support at home, where consumers pay for services as they go. These providers report regularly to the Government on the services they deliver and must return any unspent government grants.

Verdict: Ms Kearney's claim is overreach.