About the new Aged Care Act

The new Aged Care Act starts from 1 July 2025. It will respond to the issues facing older people, aged care providers, workers, and the broader sector. It will put the rights and needs of older people at the centre of the aged care system.

New Aged Care Bill 2024

The Australian Government introduced the Aged Care Bill 2024 to Parliament on 12 September 2024.  It passed both houses of Parliament on 25 November 2024 and following Royal Assent It will become the new Aged Care Act from 1 July 2025. For more information, read the:

About the new Act

Currently, aged care is governed under many aged care laws. The new Act will replace the:

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:

The 1 July 2025 start date for the new Act aligns with the launch of the new Support at Home program and gives 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 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:

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:

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:

Who we work with

To make sure the new Act reflects the needs of older people, during its development we worked and consulted with:

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, Commonwealth-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 Commonwealth 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 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.

From October 2024, we began inviting feedback on the Aged Care Rules which sit under the Act.

Read more about our consultation on the new Act.

Contact

Aged care legislative reform contact

Contact us if you have any questions about the development of the new Aged Care Act.
Date last updated:

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