Your Aged Care Update – 25 February 2025
Notable dates
Digital Transformation Impact Assessment
Closes 7 March
Maggie Beer Foundation training
Applications close 14 March
Webinar for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care (NATSIFAC) providers
20 March
In this issue
News about the reforms
Aged Care Reforms Survey for Older People
The Aged Care Reforms Survey gives older people, their families and carers the opportunity to give feedback on their knowledge of the aged care reforms.
In our most recent survey, people were most aware of:
the wage increase for aged care workers
24/7 registered nurses in aged care homes
improving food and nutrition in residential aged care.
These insights help improve how we communicate about the reforms to older people, their families and carers.
See the survey results on the Engagement Hub.
Sector news
Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner’s reports
Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner Andrea Kelly has released her report and an illustrated community booklet about her 2024 consultations.
They tell the story of what Ms Kelly heard from community about how aged care is delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The report has recommendations on the design of a permanent Commissioner role and how aged care can improve for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The illustrated booklet reflects what Ms Kelly heard from older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in their own words.
Read the booklet and the report.
Provider registration contact details
As the provider registration preview approaches, we encourage providers to check their contact details. You can do this through the Government Provider Management System (GPMS) or by contacting your funding agreement manager.
Nominating the right contact means you will receive the provider registration preview when we share it in April. This gives you the opportunity to review and make any updates needed.
For technical support with GPMS, please contact the My Aged Care service provider and assessor helpline on 1800 836 799 and select option 5.
For more information about the new regulatory model, email AgedCareRegModel@health.gov.au.
Provider finance information updated
Provider finance information has been been updated on the My Aged Care website’s Find a Provider tool.
This information:
promotes transparency
allows providers to compare their performance and identify opportunities for improvement
gives older people and their families access to current data, which helps them to make informed decisions.
This update reflects data from your Quarter 1 2024–25 Quarterly Financial Report, 2023–24 Aged Care Financial Report, the 2023–24 Provider Operations Collection Form and the 2023–24 Aged Care Management Payment System.
Read more about the reporting of publishing finance and operations information and use this toolkit to help you communicate with older people.
Residential care
Grant opportunity: Specialist Dementia Care Program
The Specialist Dementia Care Program Grant Opportunity is now open for applications.
This grant is for eligible providers in the Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network regions. It supports people with very severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia who cannot be cared for in mainstream aged care homes.
Apply now on GrantConnect (GO5304).
Applications close 24 April, 2:00 pm (AEST).
For any questions, email grant.atm@health.gov.au.
In-home care
Nurses award wage increase for HCP and CHSP providers
We are supporting the Fair Work Commission’s decision to increase award wages for aged care registered and enrolled nurses. This is part of the Aged Care Work Value Case.
To assist Home Care Package (HCP) providers to pass on the award wage increase, the HCP subsidy will increase by 0.10% from 1 March.
All Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) providers funded for nursing services will receive the same indexation boost from 1 March. This will be via a Notice of Change to their existing grant agreement. CHSP providers will be contacted by their Funding Arrangement Manager in early March.
CHSP providers funded in 2025-27 for nursing will receive a Notice of Change to their grant agreement from 1 October 2025 and 1 August 2026.
Find out more about the HCP subsidy increase.
Find out more about better and fairer wages for aged care workers.
Webinar: CHSP 2025–27 extension and reforms update
We are hosting a webinar for Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) providers about the 2025–27 extension and changes under the new Aged Care Act.
When: Thursday 13 March, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (AEDT).
The webinar will cover:
the CHSP 2025–27 extension grant process
new regulatory requirements under the new Aged Care Act
changes to reporting and new reporting obligations
provider obligations for My Aged Care client registration
CHSP services under the new Aged Care Act.
Register now.
You will be able to submit questions before and during the webinar.
For more information about the CHSP 2025–27 extension, see the CHSP extension provider fact sheet.
Workforce
Training: Culture and trauma-informed care
The Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra (Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care NSW/ACT) is providing a free online course for people working in aged care.
It will give you information and tools to support trauma-informed care for older people from diverse backgrounds.
Enrol now.
See all available courses in this series.
Digital implementation
Streamlining digital reform in aged care
Welcome to our new ‘Digital implementation’ section in this newsletter. It is for IT professionals, software developers and ICT enablers working with aged care providers on digital changes.
This section will include targeted resources and information relevant to your work.
You will soon be able to update your sign-up preferences. We will let you know when this is available.
Digital implementation update
Aged care digital systems and capabilities need to be uplifted in line with the new Aged Care Act and Support at Home program from 1 July.
To ensure the best outcomes for older people and a smooth transition for the aged care sector, we will continue to deliver improved digital enhancements for users through a staged approach throughout 2025–26.
We have published a range of resources to help you manage change:
We will update these and publish new resources regularly.
Find out more about aged care digital reform.