Scott Morrison admits aged care system 'is broken'

The Prime Minister has defended not setting up a Royal Commission into aged care earlier, while acknowledging the "system is broken".

Scott Morrison said the government was already "lifting and policing the standards", and revealed why a Royal Commission is needed.

Asked on the Today Show why the government hadn't acted before now, Mr Morrison pointed out he had only been Prime Minister for three weeks.

"That's a quick time," he said.

"I can only account for my actions as prime minister. That's what I'm doing."

Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt had previously said he preferred to spend money on reforms rather than an investigation.

"I acknowledge the system is broken," the Prime Minister said.

"I acknowledge a royal commission is necessary to understand the full extent of the problem that our increased policing work in the sector has been revealing, and that’s why we need a royal commission.

"I mean, we're lifting the standards. We're policing the standards. The royal commission is an addition to all that work.

"So, we want to get to the bottom of it. I don't want to fight about it. I want to fix it."

Mr Morrison said the government won't rush into the commission's terms of reference, and would consult widely in the aged care sector to get them right.

The Council of the Ageing has welcomed the announcement, but fears reforms already announced might be delayed until after the commission hands down its findings and recommendations.

The issue dominated Question Time, with Labor attacking the prime minister, accusing him of cutting aged care funding when he was Treasurer. 

The opposition pointed to the 2016-17 budget, claiming the government had ordered savings of $1.2 billion. 

Scott Morrison, though, described said it was "a lie" to suggest the government had lowered funding, saying it'd gone up by over a billion dollars a year, and grow to $23 billion by 2020. 

Mr Morrison called on the opposition to "stop playing politics" with the issue.