Better health and ageing for all Australians

Living Longer. Living Better.

Living Longer. Living Better - Aged Care Reform Package

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The Government is building a better, fairer and more nationally consistent aged care system. Under Living Longer Living Better, the aged care reform package provides $3.7 billion over five years.

  • $955.4 million to help people to stay at home through:
  • an integrated Home Support program
  • more Home Care packages with new levels of packages
  • greater choice and control through Consumer Directed Care
  • available across all new Home Care packages
  • fairer means-testing arrangements for Home Care packages
$54.8 million to help carers access respite and other support.

$660.3 million to deliver better residential aged care through:
  • more residential care facilities to be built
  • supporting the viability of services in regional, rural and
  • remote areas
  • trialling Consumer Directed Care in residential aged care
  • strengthening means testing for residential care by combining the current income and asset tests
  • establishing a new Aged Care Financing Authority
  • improving the Aged Care Funding Instrument
$1.2 billion to strengthen the aged care workforce

$39.8 million to support consumers and research through:
  • empowering consumers through advocacy
  • better connecting the lonely and socially isolated
  • improving the knowledge of older people’s care and support needs
$80.2 million to ensure better health connections through:
  • complex health care
  • multidisciplinary care
  • service innovation

Number of people aged 65 years and over, by age group, 2012 to 2050


This graph shows how the number of people aged 65 years and over will increase substantially between 2012 and 2050. Within this overall growth, the number of people aged 85 years and over will increase even more rapidly
Text from image shown above
Number of people (millions)
Year95+ years85-94 years75-84 years65-74 years
20123560740319010282471789563
20133704441962210478971877310
20143878643425510725841955854
20154253344705510995212037117
201646262458138112990002116339
20174982146545711709452188498
20185301447268312117902266499
20195606247969512668972328126
20205925948765813256572387917
20216243849915513857902448070
20226519851312114760092475190
20236795252767715536982515559
20247040554501216228102564121
20257299156370616938354611893
20267521358365917622022665448
20277664460886418243892719330
20287824663309718904902767575
20297999366625319434072812096
20308225770116219946622842492
203185478737115204633302863157
20328924979371520740472881073
20339309383963621115562899306
20349752387883721550862923365
203510221191853521983742947878
203610702795527622463782982456
203711290298838322943333012355
2038118382102311823377303030628
203912524710517712377008346094
2040134407108016124036913064852
2041142809110985724223753083961
2042156962113193524384713104755
2043167324115765124552073123580
2044175734118580124779003138314
2045184466121476625016993154760
2046192525124651625358473166823
2047200075127755525659893189684
2048208323130623325856193230662
2049215765133080926020373280051
2050223582134682926198003339412
$268.4 million to tackle the nation’s dementia epidemic
including:
  • a new Dementia Supplement in home and residential care
  • improved hospital and primary care
  • increased focus on people with younger onset dementia
  • reducing the time between symptoms and diagnosis
$192.0 million to support older Australians from diverse
backgrounds through:
  • more aged care places for Indigenous Australians
  • supporting veterans with mental health problems
  • training staff to be sensitive to the needs of diverse groups
  • helping homeless older people stay in the community
$256.4 million to build a system for the future through:
  • a new Aged Care Reform Implementation Council to drive the
  • development and implementation of aged care reform
  • establishing a new Aged Care Financing Authority
  • a new Gateway to aged care services to help older Australians
  • be more informed and better move through the system
  • streamlined quality regulation
  • increased powers to handle consumer complaints
This package is in part offset through means testing and
redirected funding (see measures table on pages 37-38)

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