Aged Care Act 2024: one year on

The changes followed the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Older people, their families and carers, aged care providers and workers, and many others helped to shape the aged care changes.

One year on, many of these changes are now part of how aged care in Australia works.

Your rights in aged care

At the heart of the Act is a Statement of Rights.

These rights are designed to help you have a say on the care and services you access. They include your right to:

• make decisions about your care
• get information you can understand
• have your culture, identity and personal choices respected
• stay connected with your family, friends and community
• receive safe, quality care and services.

You can find out more about how aged care is delivering quality, rights-based care.

Clearer information for informed decisions

Clear information can help you make decisions about the care and services that are right for you.

Aged care providers are required to:

• provide information on their prices, finances and operations
• adhere to government regulations and standards for compliance.

The Find a Provider tool on the My Aged Care website enables you to look up this information, compare prices and understand what providers charge.

There are also fee estimators to help you work out your costs and your options to pay.

Clear information helps you to:

• make your aged care choices and decisions
• find the provider that best fits your needs and preferences.

We are continuing to improve aged care

The Australian Government continues to work with older people, families and carers, aged care providers and workers to improve the aged care system.

Changes made during the past year include:

• removing contributions for personal care services under Support at Home
• extending the Commonwealth Home Support Program
• providing additional funding for people who need more support to remain at home during the final months of their life.

We know there is still more to do.

Some older people are waiting too long for an aged care assessment. Reducing these wait times and helping people access services sooner remain important priorities.

There have been improvements. The number of completed assessments increased from 127,649 between October and December 2025 to 140,028 between April and June 2026.

We will continue to build on the reforms so aged care can better meet the needs of older people now and in the future.

Find out more

Information and resources are available to help you understand the changes and how the Act is put into practice.