Improving Australia’s aged care system

Under the Statement of Rights, you have the right to make your own decisions, including about:

• what funded aged care services you use
• how you access funded aged care services and who provides them
• your money and belongings.

You have the right to get support to make these decisions if necessary.

You also have the right to choose how you live, even if there is some personal risk. For example, choices about your social life and intimate and sexual relationships.

We understand that many older people want to stay at home for as long as possible.

Around 1.4 million people will benefit from the Support at Home program by 2035. The program will help older people remain in their own home and community for longer.

Support at Home will help with:

• clinical supports, such as nursing care and physiotherapy
• services that support independence, such as home modifications, getting dressed, and taking medication
• everyday tasks, such as gardening, shopping, and cleaning.

From 1 November 2025, Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care Programme.

The Commonwealth Home Support Program will transition to Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027.

Find out more about the Support at Home program.

Changes have been made to help you better understand and make choices based on costs.

Aged care providers must share details of what you are paying for and publish their prices online.

Support at Home

If you receive Support at Home services, you will get a monthly statement showing:

• the services you received
• the price charged for each service against your budget
• your contribution amount for each service
• the amount of government subsidy for each service.

Aged care homes

Unless you are accessing services under a specialist aged care program, you will continue to have choice about what extras you pay for.

From 1 November 2025, a new higher everyday living fee was introduced. This is an optional fee for residents who want services that go beyond what aged care homes are required to provide under the new Aged Care Act and the Aged Care Quality Standards. This enables you to tailor additional services to suit you. The higher everyday living fee replaced additional service fees and extra service fees for new residents.

There are improved protections to ensure you won’t be charged for things you don’t want or can’t use. Providers cannot discriminate based on a person’s ability to pay for any additional or extra services.

From 1 November 2025, a new legal framework for the registration of supporters started. This helps to embed supported decision-making across the aged care system. The registered supporter role replaced existing regular and authorised representative relationships in My Aged Care.

If you want or need support to make your own aged care decisions, you can request to register supporters to help you. A registered supporter can request and receive information about your aged care, help you to understand information and make your own decisions, and let people like My Aged Care and aged care providers know what your decisions are. This can include getting copies of your letters and calling My Aged Care.

Having a registered supporter does not prevent you from doing something you can do yourself. You can continue to request, receive and communicate information and make decisions.

If you had a regular or authorised representative active in My Aged Care on 31 October 2025 and did not opt out of moving under the new Act, they became your registered supporter on 1 November. You can review or change your registered supporters in your Online Account or by calling My Aged Care.

You can have more than one registered supporter.

Find out more about registering a supporter.

If you are receiving aged care services, your rights must be respected whether you are living at home or in an aged care home.  

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) is supported by the Australian Government to offer free, independent support to older people in every state and territory.  

OPAN can give you confidential and unbiased help if you are using or looking for government-funded aged care. It can also support your family and other people who support you.  

They can help with:  

• understanding your aged care rights  
• finding aged care services that meet your needs  
• resolving issues with your government-funded aged care provider.  

If you have questions or concerns, you can call the Aged Care Advocacy Line on 1800 700 600. They can connect you with the aged care advocacy organisation in your state or territory.  

Find out more about advocacy.

The new assessment system provides a single pathway to access all government-funded aged care services. This includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations, which are commencing a phased rollout from August 2025.

How you apply for an assessment remains the same, and there are no changes to eligibility or access to urgent services.

You have the right to a fair, accurate and culturally safe assessment to find out what funded aged care services you need.

This assessment should be done in a way that suits you. It should respect your:

• culture and background
• personal experience and any trauma
• cognitive conditions, such as dementia.

You also have the right to get the kind of care you need, when you need it. This includes palliative care and end of life care.

Under the new Act, you have the right to high quality care that:

• is culturally safe
• is tailored to your personal needs, goals and preferences
• supports your participation in meaningful activities
• supports you to remain connected to family, friends, nature, Country and community
• incorporates inclusive practices and flexible policies to support your life experiences, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Government funds navigation support to help you find aged care that is right for you:

• Elder Care Support
• Care Finders
• Older Person’s Advocacy Network

The new Act will be changed in the future to add a permanent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Commissioner.

This role:

• helps ensure that older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get fair access to aged care and outcomes
• supports the goals of Closing the Gap
• respects the rights of Indigenous people, as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

The government will continue to fund most of your aged care services, whether you are living in an aged care home, or in your own home. To make the aged care system more sustainable, people who can afford to will make a greater contribution to their aged care costs. A contribution is the amount you contribute towards your care based on what you can afford.

How much you contribute will depend on:

• your personal circumstances
• the combination of your income and assets
• whether or not you are accessing services through a specialist aged care program such as the Multi-Purpose Services Program (MPSP).

Under the new contribution structure, there is no change to the treatment of the family home in determining what you might need to contribute.

For the Support at Home program, contributions will also depend on the type and level of support that you receive.

A fairer system is in place for those with higher care needs and those who make large contributions and stay in care a long time.

If you receive services under the Support at Home program:

• you won’t pay a contribution for any clinical support services, such as nursing or physiotherapy
• your lifetime contributions will be capped at $130,000.

If you live in a residential aged care home, unless you are accessing services under a specialist aged care program:

• You will continue to be asked to pay the basic daily fee for residential care.
• Residents with the capacity to do so will make a means tested contribution to the hotelling supplement.
• If you are assessed as requiring to make a contribution to non-clinical care your contributions are capped at a daily amount and your lifetime contribution will be capped at $130,000 or after 4 years, whichever occurs first.
• The government will fully fund the clinical care services for all residents.

Find out more about the costs of aged care.

If, on or before 12 September 2024:

You were receiving a Home Care Package (HCP), or assessed as eligible for HCP:

• you will receive the same level of funding as you did in your HCP
• you will make the same contribution, or lower, than you have for HCP
• you will be eligible to enter a residential aged care home under the current fee arrangements, no matter when you move in. However, if you move in after 1 November 2025, you will be subject to the new accommodation payment arrangements.

If you are living in a residential aged care home on 31 October 2025:

• There will be no changes to the existing fee contribution arrangement for the entirety of your stay in aged care home. You can, however, opt to move to the new means testing arrangements if you wish.
• However, if a resident whose fees are set under the current post 1 July 2014 fee arrangements is out of residential aged care for more than 28 days, they will be subject to the new accommodation arrangements. They would however continue to be protected from the means testing changes until they choose to opt-out of these existing arrangements.

This means you can choose to keep your current fee arrangement, but if you want to change it, you need to opt-in and tell your provider. It’s important to get financial advice before you make this decision, as once the change has occurred it can’t be reversed.

A person’s level of contribution will be based on their capacity to pay. The lowest contribution amount will be set for those with the lowest means.

If over time your income and assets are reduced, and you can’t afford to pay your fees or contributions, the government will continue to support you. They’ll do this through the financial hardship assistance program.

This program does not apply if you are accessing services under a specialist aged care program, such as the Multi-Purpose Service Program. Instead, your provider will have their own policy which covers financial hardship from 1 November 2025.

If you access Support at Home services, you will receive care management. This can include developing and reviewing your care plan and helping manage the services delivered to you.

• As a clinical support service, the Government covers the full cost.
• 10% of your ongoing quarterly budget is deducted for care management.
• Your provider can receive a supplement to fund extra care management for those with diverse needs.

Additional information is available if you:

• have been assessed as requiring aged care services and are ready to find a provider, or  
• if you simply want to check out providers in your area.

Specialisation information is available to help older people with diverse needs, backgrounds and lived experiences find providers that best suit their needs.

Star Ratings for residential aged care homes help you compare the quality, safety and services of homes. This information helps you make the best choice for you.

Making this information available helps people choose a provider. It also makes providers accountable and allows them to compare their performance across the sector and identify areas for improvement.

For more, use the Find a provider tool.

Aged care providers receive funding for the cost of workers, including:

• registered nurses
• allied health professionals
• lifestyle officers.

The government sets funding and accommodation prices for aged care homes. This is informed by Independent Health and Aged Care Authority (IHACPA)’s pricing guidance.

Under Support at Home, providers set their own prices for services. From 1 July 2026, government-set price caps will apply, which is informed by IHACPA’s advice. From this time, the prices that providers set must be at or below the level of the caps.

The government sets the amount you can contribute to the services you receive. Providers cannot increase your fees above that.

You can see how much providers are spending on care, food, staff and accommodation. This information is available on the profiles of providers of aged care homes in the Find a provider tool.

In the Find a provider tool you can also see the prices that each provides typically charges for Support at Home services.

Sharing this information publicly provides greater transparency. It helps you compare providers and decide which one best suit your needs.

The financial reports of all providers are also monitored and audited by:

• Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
• Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

If providers don’t report their information correctly, civil penalties are applied in court.

From 1 November 2025, if you move into an aged care home and pay for your accommodation in part or full by lump sum, residential aged care providers will keep 2% of that lump sum payment for each year you are in an aged care home, for up to 5 years.

This will ensure aged care homes have the funds to:

• invest in residents’ comfort
• keep facilities open
• build new facilities.

Learn more about aged care costs.

The new regulatory model puts you at the centre of your aged care and outlines how aged care providers must operate under the new Aged Care Act.

The new model will:

• provide you with more protections and help you exercise your rights
• empower you to make decisions and provide safeguards when your rights are not upheld
• restore trust and confidence in the quality of aged care delivered by providers and their workers
• set out expectations and obligations providers must meet to provide aged care
• make it easier for you to access, understand and use the aged care system
• improve how we manage complaints and feedback with a focus on restorative resolution
• make it easier for you to find and assess options for aged care services and to make informed choices.

Registered providers must meet certain obligations based on the type of services they deliver. These obligations make providers accountable for the safety and quality of care they provide you.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will monitor providers to make sure they meet their obligations. If providers don’t meet their obligations, you can make a complaint to the Commission.

Aged Care Quality Standards will be strengthened to improve the quality of care you receive. This includes:

• placing older people at the centre of aged care
• supporting people living with dementia
• being more inclusive of people from diverse backgrounds
• stronger requirements for clinical care, food and nutrition
• more protections for you.

Government-funded providers must involve you in delivering your aged care services. This includes:

• listening to your feedback and concerns and letting you help to improve your care outcomes
• giving you choice in how your care is delivered and meeting all your individual care needs, goals and preferences
• giving you information about your funded aged care services
• making sure the people involved in your care are the right people to provide your care
• maintaining clean, safe and comfortable environments
• giving you choice about what you eat and drink and how much you eat and when and making sure your food is nutritious
• planning for emergencies to keep you safe
• keeping your information safe and private.

If you have concerns about your care, please contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822, email info@agedcarequality.gov.au or visit the Commission’s website. For food, nutrition and dining enquiries, questions, concerns and complaints call 1800 844 044.

If you have a concern about the care that you or someone else is receiving from their aged care provider, it’s important to talk about it. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission can help you to resolve your concern or complaint. They can also provide you with information about how to talk directly to your aged care provider.

Raising a concern is safe and easy. You can choose to make a confidential or anonymous complaint. Making a complaint is not ‘being difficult’ – it can help improve the quality of care and help other people with the same problem.

If you need support to make a complaint or find information, you can also call OPAN on 1800 700 600.

Learn more about raising complaints or concerns.

The new Inspector General of Aged Care supervises the aged care system and identifies any issues. This includes oversight of the regulation, funding and administration of aged care.

The office of the Inspector General is an independent agency. It helps to ensure the aged care system is accountable and transparent, and it meets the needs of older people, their families and carers.