About the new Aged Care Act

About the new Act

Currently, aged care is governed under many aged care laws. We are building a new Aged Care Act which will replace the:

• Aged Care Act 1997
• Aged Care (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997
• Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018.

The new Act aims to improve the ways services are delivered to older people in:

• their homes
• community settings
• approved residential aged care homes.

It will:

• outline the rights of older people who are seeking and accessing aged care services
• create a single entry point, with clear eligibility requirements
• include a fair, culturally safe single assessment framework
• support the delivery of aged care services
• establish new system oversight and accountability arrangements
• increase provider accountability through a new regulatory model
• strengthen the aged care regulator.

The Australian Government introduced the Aged Care Bill 2024 to Parliament on 12 September 2024. For more information, read the:

• Minister for Aged Care’s media release
• Aged Care Bill 2024 and explanatory memorandum
• plain language Bill overview fact sheet.

Once passed by the Parliament, the Bill will become the new Aged Care Act, and is expected to start from 1 July 2025.

This timing will align with the launch of the new Support at Home program and give everyone time to prepare for the major changes ahead.

Carefully staging these reforms will mean a successful transition to the improved aged care system envisaged by the Royal Commission in to Aged Care Quality and Safety.

Why the new Act is important

The Royal Commission found that the current Aged Care Act and its related legislation is no longer fit for purpose. This is because it is structured around providers and how to fund them, rather than around the people accessing services and what they need.

The new rights-based Act will put older people who need aged care at the centre of the system.

Read more about what a rights-based Act means for you.

The new Act will underpin responses to around 60 Royal Commission recommendations, including to legislate:

• the Government's response to the Aged Care Taskforce recommendations
• the new Support at Home program
• strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
• stronger powers for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
• a Statement of Rights for older people.

The new Act will also build on priority aged care reforms that have already been delivered.

The legislative changes so far

We have already delivered some priority aged care reforms by amending existing aged care legislation. This was completed so that we could act early on some of the Royal Commission's recommendations.

The new Aged Care Act will support the broader reforms to the aged care system.

See our reforms roadmap for a full timeline of proposed reforms.

Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response No. 1) Act 2021

This Act amended legislation to:

• place stronger controls over the use of restrictive practices, such as chemical and physical restraints, to ensure they are a last resort
• conduct assurance reviews to make sure home care providers use government funding to deliver services to older people
• abolish the Aged Care Financing Authority and create a new advisory body for aged care financing, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority.

Read more information in the Act’s explanatory memorandum (PDF, 1MB).

Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022

This Act responded to 17 recommendations of the Royal Commission, enabling:

• the new Australian National Aged Care Classification funding model for residential aged care
• Star Ratings for residential aged care services
• an enforceable Code of Conduct for Aged Care applying to approved providers and their governing people and workforce
• powers for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner to take enforcement action for Code of Conduct breaches
• the Serious Incident Response Scheme extension to home care and flexible care delivered in a home or community setting, including incident management responsibilities
• the strengthening of provider governance
• better information sharing between regulators across the aged care, veterans’ care and disability support sectors
• increased financial and prudential oversight of the use of residential accommodation deposits and bonds
• broader functions for the renamed Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority to include pricing advice to government on aged and general health care
• revised restrictive practices arrangements to address gaps in state and territory guardianship and consent laws.

Read more in the Act’s explanatory memorandum (PDF, 4MB).

Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Act 2022

This Act responded to 2 Royal Commission recommendations and implemented the government’s election commitments to:

• improve integrity and accountability for residential aged care homes
• ban exit fees and cap administrative and management charges in the Home Care Packages Program
• require a registered nurse to be on site and on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in every residential aged care home.

It also introduced mandatory reporting that requires us to publish additional provider information for greater transparency. This includes information on provider spending on:

• care
• nursing
• food
• maintenance
• cleaning
• administration
• profits.

Read more in the Act’s explanatory memorandum (PDF, 1MB).

Who will be affected

The new Act will affect everyone connected to the aged care system, including:

• older people, their families and carers
• aged care providers
• aged care workers
• the broader care sector
• the government agencies responsible for supporting, delivering, regulating and overseeing the aged care system, including:
  • the Department of Health and Aged Care
  • the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
  • Services Australia.

Who we work with

To make sure the new Act reflects the needs of older people, we have been working and consulting with:

• older people, their families and carers
• the Aged Care Council of Elders
• the National Aged Care Advisory Council
• aged care providers
• aged care workers
• peak aged care organisations
• consumer and sector reference groups
• other experts.

What the new Act will mean for you

The new Aged Care Act will impact everyone connected to aged care.

It will empower older people to exercise their rights when accessing, or seeking to access, government-funded aged care services. It will support them to live active, self-determined and meaningful lives as they age.

Providers will need to register to deliver government-funded aged care services. They will need to comply with a set of obligations, including conditions on their registration. They will need to do this even where they subcontract the delivery of services.

Separate obligations will apply to:

• aged care workers and responsible people of registered providers
• operators of digital platforms that facilitate access to services.

Read about:

• what the new Act means for you
• our new Aged Care Act resources.

What you said

In August and September 2023, we consulted with the public and key stakeholders on the foundations of the new Act.

From December 2023 to March 2024, we invited people to have their say on the exposure draft of the Bill for the new Aged Care Act.

Read more about our consultation on the new Act.

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