The push comes as the government has sought to bat away claims by Labor that it has cut aged care funding.

Scott Morrison announced an inquiry on Sunday after what he described as an "alarming and disturbing" increase in elder abuse and poor standards in the aged-care sector.

Although Australia has some of the finest aged care facilities in the world, a royal commission is needed to understand the full extent of problems, the prime minister said.

The inquiry will look at the quality of both residential and home aged care, including how young Australians with disabilities are cared for in residential facilities.

But Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, who has mild cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said the step comes after the government has for years ignored requests for a broader royal commission into violence, abuse and neglect against Australians with disability.

The 23-year-old said a 2015 Senate inquiry into abuse and neglect against disabled people in institutional and residential settings had recommended a royal commission into the issue.

A national disability abuse hotline has since received more than 500 complaints, he said.

He broke into tears during question time while highlighting the issue.

"Why won't the prime minister acknowledge the shared horror of the experience of disabled people, my people, and older Australians?" he told parliament on Monday.

Senate leader Mathias Cormann said the government takes the issue "very seriously" and is making changes to improve the treatment of people with disability, as it takes over responsibility for specialist disability services from the states and territories.

That has included establishing a framework to prevent abuse and neglect through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, he said.

But Senator Steele-John, who left the chamber for a period after the exchange, later said the aged care sector is under an "almost identical" framework.

"Why then is that a reason for disabled people to be denied their opportunity to make their voices heard, when it is not the case for aged care?" he said.

"There is a systemic, a profound issue in this nation, that thousands of disabled people suffer daily in this country, that they are subject to horrors ... and yet there is nothing but silence from this government."

Labor has accused the prime minister of cutting millions of dollars from the aged-care sector while he was treasurer.

"If Scott Morrison is going to finally take responsibility for the mess that is aged care, he should start by 'fessing up to the impact his cuts have had on quality in the system," spokesman Jim Chalmers told reporters.

But Mr Morrison told parliament the government has been adding $1 billion to the aged care budget annually.

Australian Associated Press