The Australian Government is making positive changes to aged care.

These changes to aged care and reforms will improve aged care in Australia now and into the future. Our vision is to deliver the highest quality care for older people, where and when they need it.

Everyone deserves access to high-quality care and support as they age – whether they choose to remain in their own home or if they move to residential aged care.

You may have heard some announcements about changes to aged care in the news recently. As part of the 2024-25 Budget, the Australian Government will be investing $5.6 billion in a reform package that represents the greatest improvement to aged care in 30 years.

The new reforms will deliver high-quality person-centred care for older people, where and when they need it. Here’s what you need to know.

Changes to aged care: everything you need to know

New Aged Care Bill introduced to Parliament

The Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells, introduced the Aged Care Bill 2024 to Parliament on 12 September 2024. Once passed, the Bill will become the main law that sets out how the aged care system works.

The new law will replace the Aged Care Act 1997 and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018. This is a once-in-a-generation reform that will shape the way the Australian Government supports people to live independently and with dignity as they age.

The Bill aims to:

• place older people at the centre of the aged care system
• improve the lives of older people accessing aged care services in their homes, community settings and in aged care homes
• encourage aged care providers to deliver high-quality care.

The new rights-based law:

• addresses around 60 recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
• responds to feedback from public consultations
• responds to the recommendations of the Aged Care Taskforce to sustainably fund aged care into the future.

Read more here.

The new Support at Home program

We understand that older people want to stay in their homes for longer.

Around 1.4 million older people will benefit from a new Support at Home program by 2035, helping them remain independent in their home and community for longer.

Support at Home will bring together current in-home aged care programs, and will provide improved access to services, products, equipment and home modifications to help older people to remain healthy, active and socially connected to their community.

Support at Home will provide support for:

1. clinical care (e.g. nursing care, occupational therapy)
2. independence (e.g. help with showering, getting dressed or taking medications)
3. everyday living (e.g. cleaning, gardening, shopping or meal preparation)

The Support at Home program will replace the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program and Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme from 1 July 2025. Current in-home aged care programs will continue to operate as normal until they transition into the new program.

Read more at health.gov.au/our-work/support-at-home

Changes to aged care funding arrangements

In the next 40 years, the number of Australians aged over 65 is expected to more than double, with those aged over 85 to more than triple.

Current funding arrangements for aged care are not sufficient to make it sustainable now and into the future. To address this, the Australian Government is making some changes.

The Australian Government will continue to be the main funder of aged care, but older people will make a fair co-contribution to their aged care cost based on their means.

How much someone contributes to their aged care costs will depend on their personal circumstances, from the level of support they need to their combination of income and assets. The treatment of the family home won’t change under the new arrangements.

More information, including some example scenarios can be found here.

How will this impact people currently getting aged care services?

These changes won’t impact people currently accessing aged care services because we have a no worse off principle to give security to people already accessing aged care. This means people already accessing aged care won’t be asked to make a greater contribution to their care.

Older people who move into residential care before 1 July 2025 will do so under the current fee system.  

Older people who, on 12 September 2024, were already receiving a Home Care Package, are on the National Priority System, or have been assessed as eligible for a package will also be no worse off under the new contribution arrangements. This group will be eligible to move to residential care under the current fee system, regardless of when they enter residential care. 

Support for the aged care workforce

Our aged care reforms recognise the value of aged care workers and the complex work they do. We are working to build, train and support the aged care workforce by:

• creating opportunities for new workers
• building the skills of current workers
• supporting providers to develop workforce management and culture, to prioritise valued, productive and skilled workers
• funding aged care workforce research.

We are investing $3.8 billion over 4 years to support the aged care sector to deliver a higher standard of care for older Australians by providing funding to support award wage increases for many workers from 1 January 2025.

Aged care workers will see these increases from 1 January 2025, with many workers receiving further increases from 1 October 2025.

Let’s change aged care together 

Thousands of people have been working to shape the reforms so far through surveys, webinars, online workshops, consultation papers and face-to-face events. 

There are plenty of opportunities for you to have your say about the changes to aged care: 

• Sign up to receive EngAged, our monthly newsletter for older people, their families and carers: health.gov.au/aged-care-newsletter-subscribe 
• Visit the Aged Care Engagement Hub to find out about the latest consultation opportunities and outcomes: AgedCareEngagement.health.gov.au/get-involved 
• Follow the Council of Elders on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/AgedCareCouncilOfElders