MACST - meeting highlight 12 February 2026

The Minister’s Advisory Council for Senior Territorians (MACST) met on 12 February 2026 in Darwin with the Minister for Youth, Seniors and Equality, the Hon Jinson Charls MLA.

Minister’s update

The Minister for Youth, Seniors and Equality advised the appointment of Katherine Town Councillor Jim King as the local government representative to the council.

The Minister advised the council of the recently announced selection of Ozcare as the preferred provider to build and operate the new aged care facility in Palmerston, which will have at least 120 beds. The Northern Territory Government has made land available for the project beside the Palmerston Regional Hospital and looks forward to building commencing as soon as possible to ease pressures at Royal Darwin Hospital.

The Minister confirmed the Northern Territory Government will introduce legislation to Parliament on the rights of the terminally ill in mid-2026. Members will be granted a conscience vote on the Bill, ensuring that their decisions reflect the diverse views of the community they represent.

Discussions

The main discussion areas raised by the council in the meeting included:

• access to and participation in the Northern Territory Concessions scheme
• aged care in the Northern Territory
• accessible parking for people with disability and seniors in Darwin City
• home care package options for seniors in the Northern Territory.

Working groups

The council met in their working groups to progress work in the following areas:

• concessions
• working seniors
• aged care home support
• housing.

Working groups will continue advancing priority areas with Northern Territory representatives throughout 2026.

Concessions update

The Department of People, Sport and Culture provided an overview of the Northern Territory Concessions Scheme and NT Seniors Recognition Scheme for the council.