Your Aged Care Update – 18 February
Notable dates
Webinar: Digital transformation
19 February
Support at Home and new Aged Care Act Transition Support Grant
Closes 25 February
Historical Leave Liabilities Grant
Closes 6 March
Assess your digital capability
Closes 9 March
In this issue
News about the reforms
New Aged Care Act Rules consultation: Provider obligations
We are now inviting feedback on provider obligations under the new Aged Care Act.
This is stage 3 of our consultation on the new Aged Care Rules.
This stage covers:
existing obligations like the Code of Conduct, restrictive practices and the strengthened Quality Standards
new requirements including rights and principles
reporting and record-keeping requirements.
For more information, read our supporting document.
You can provide feedback on the Stage 3 rules via our online form by 13 March.
Support at Home business rules guidance
A new resource is available to help Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care providers transition to the Support at Home program for 1 July.
The Support at Home Program Claims and Payments Business Rules Guidance provides information about claims and payment processing under Support at Home.
It covers:
payments for ongoing services
payments for short-term support, such as the Restorative Care Pathway, End-of-Life Pathway and Assistive Technology and Home Modifications Scheme.
This resource complements the Support at Home Program Provider Transition Guide.
Read the Support at Home Program Claims and Payments Business Rules Guidance or see more Support at Home resources.
Sector news
Consultation: National registration scheme to support personal care workers
Have your say on the design and new training and skills requirements of a national registration scheme to support personal care workers employed in aged care.
This scheme will help provide safe, respectful and quality care for older people. It will deliver more opportunities to develop skills and professionalism for personal care workers.
We want to hear from older people, carers, providers, workers and organisations about the scheme.
Take a short online survey.
You can also email your feedback to AgedCareWorkforceReform@health.gov.au.
Consultation closes 17 April.
National Aged Care Advisory Council: New members
The National Aged Care Advisory Council welcomed its new Chair, Professor Sue Gordon, this month.
Professor Gordon brings a wealth of aged care experience to the Council. She has a background in physiotherapy and academia and was most recently the Research Director at Aged Care Research and Industry Australia. In this role, Professor Gordon worked with providers and the community to improve aged care, and the effective use of technology.
Professor Gordon will be joined by 4 new and 3 returning members.
The Council helps shape aged care policy through its insights and expert advice to Government.
Special thanks to Andrea Coote for her valuable contribution as Chair over the past 3 years and to all outgoing members.
The Council’s focus areas for 2025 include the Aged Care Act and Support at Home program.
Find out more about the National Aged Care Advisory Council.
Quarterly Financial Snapshot
The Quarterly Financial Snapshot for Quarter 1 2024–25 is now available.
It uses data submitted through the Quarterly Financial Report on:
financial indicators
care minutes
labour costs, wages and hours
occupancy
food and nutrition.
This information improves transparency and makes it easier for people to make informed decisions about their care.
A new data extract, including all key figures from the Quarterly Financial Snapshot, is also available and will be updated quarterly.
Thank you to providers who completed reporting and contributed to developing this snapshot.
View the Quarterly Financial Snapshot report and data extract.
Webinar for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care providers
We are hosting a webinar for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care (NATSIFAC) providers.
This will help providers understand how the new Aged Care Act will impact the delivery of services through the NATSIFAC Program.
When: Thursday 20 March, 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm (AEDT).
The webinar will cover:
new worker screening requirements
provider responsibilities
the Single Assessment System
the NATSIFAC funding model review.
You will be able to submit questions before the webinar, when you register.
Freeze on the maximum patient cost for PBS medicines
On 1 January, we introduced a freeze on the maximum patient cost of Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) medicines.
This means the maximum cost of prescription medicines won’t increase this year. For people in your care with a concession card, the cost will stay the same for 5 years.
Along with 60-day prescriptions, these changes help people save money and time.
For more information, visit cheaper medicines.
Webinar: Supporting linguistic diversity
The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing is holding a free webinar for aged care providers.
It will discuss our free translation service and how providers can make translation requests.
When: Tuesday 25 February, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (AEDT).
Register now.
For more information:
visit the free aged care translation service website
My health app keeps health information in one place
The my health app is a secure and convenient way for patients, healthcare providers and carers to manage information.
The app has new features, including:
electronic prescriptions
records of medicines, allergies and adverse reactions
emergency contact information
active script lists
links to Advanced Care Plans.
Providers are encouraged to talk to people in their care about the benefits of using the app to keep health information easily accessible.
Find out more on the Australian Digital Health Agency website.
Residential care
Residents’ Experience Survey
The 2025 Residents’ Experience Survey has begun. This survey gives people living in aged care homes the opportunity to tell us about the quality of the care they receive.
An independent survey team will contact aged care providers to schedule survey dates.
The survey team is trained and experienced in talking with people with diverse needs and backgrounds, and those with dementia or a disability.
Feedback from the survey can help you improve your service, and accounts for 33% of your Star Rating.
For more information:
visit the Residents’ Experience Survey website
download the guide for providers and communication toolkit
email RES@acna.org.au.
Register to give Monthly Care Statements
We encourage all aged care homes to offer Monthly Care Statements before they become mandatory.
Monthly Care Statements can help you to:
improve communication with residents by having regular conversations about care needs
review care management plans
respond to feedback
address concerns.
Our template and guide can help you get started. You are likely already recording the information included in statements. Register now to give statements so we can provide advice and support.
In-home care
Support at Home pricing survey
The Australian Government is staging the introduction of price caps on services in the new Support at Home program.
From 1 July this year, Support at Home providers will continue to set their own prices, as currently occurs in the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program. They will use these to invoice the government for Support at Home services delivered in 2025–26. Prices will be capped from 1 July 2026.
We want to hear from you to better understand the prices you are intending to charge under the Support at Home program in 2025–26.
We emailed in-home aged care providers on 12 February with a spreadsheet to complete as part of the Support at Home pricing survey.
Please email SAH.Pricing.Survey@health.gov.au with your completed survey, or to let us know if your organisation didn’t receive one.
Surveys are due by 26 February.
Find out more about the Support at Home program.
Workforce
Advance care planning
National Advance Care Planning Week is 17 to 23 March.
Only 1 in 3 people over 40 know about advance advance care planning. We want to remind older people to make their choices matter.
Advance care planning:
supports people to make choices about their future care
gives peace of mind to older people, their families and carers.
For more information and to get involved, visit Advance Care Planning Australia.