Aged care analyst warns of ‘alarming lack of transparency’ in how churches spend government grants

Concerns have been raised that religious institutions do not have to show how they are spending millions of dollars of federal funding

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Religious institutions that run aged care homes do not have to show they are spending millions of dollars in government grants on resident care thanks to an “alarming lack of transparency” in the system, an industry analyst has claimed.

Jason Ward of the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research pointed to the example of Blue Care, which has about 47 residential aged care facilities with 5,173 residents. Blue Care is run by UnitingCare Queensland, which sent $25.7m to the Queensland synod of the Uniting church last financial year.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup