Full funding and policy responsibility for aged care

The Australian Government will take full policy and funding responsibility for aged care services. This will allow the Government to build a nationally consistent aged care system, covering the full spectrum of services from basic care at home through to high level residential care, as care needs change.

Full funding and policy responsibility for aged care fact sheet (PDF 68 KB)

How will the sole funding and sole regulator system work?
How will this benefit older Australians?
What has the Australian Government done so far to improve the aged care system?

Aged care services are fragmented, leading to confusion for older people and overlap and duplication in service provision.

The Australian Government is taking action through its National Health and Hospitals Network.

For the first time, the Australian Government will take full policy and funding responsibility for aged care services, ending the fragmentation, blame shifting and cost shifting.

This will allow the Government to build a nationally consistent aged care system, covering the full spectrum of services from basic care at home through to high level residential care, as care needs change.

How will the sole funding and sole regulator system work?

The Commonwealth will take funding and regulatory responsibility for aged care services for older people (those aged 65 years and over, and 50 years and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people). It will also fund care provided to older people in National Disability Agreement services.

Access to aged care services will be through one-stop shops – a single access point linked with Local Hospital Networks and other parts of the health system.

It will mean:

• A new national aged care system will be built, improving care and allowing older people to seamlessly move from basic help at home through to residential care as their care needs change.
• The overlap of services provided by different government programs with different cost structures and eligibility requirements will end, making it easier for older Australians to access the care they need.
• State and territory governments will take responsibility for funding and regulating services for younger people with a disability.

How will this benefit older Australians?

The reforms will enable the Australian Government to provide better support to older Australians, even as the population ages and more demands are placed on the health system.

Older Australians will have access to a nationally consistent aged care system.

Over the next three years, $38.3 million has been provided to transition the administration of services for older people provided through the Home and Community Care Program to the Australian Government from state and territory governments (except in Victoria where existing arrangements will continue and in Western Australia pending further negotiation between governments).

What has the Australian Government done so far to improve the aged care system?

The Australian Government has been working with the states and territories through the Council of Australian Governments meetings to reform roles and responsibilities in aged care.

Since 2007, the Government has continued to invest in aged care services. Services have grown by:

• over 6,300 additional residential care places – almost half of them in high care
• over 2,800 additional community care places
• almost 700 additional transition care places.

Funding for aged care has increased by more than $1.7 billion (an increase of 20 per cent) to more than $10 billion in 2009–10.

The costs of the initiative reflect the total new program costs to the Government.

Further information on the National Health and Hospitals Network is at www.yourhealth.gov.auback to top