Changes to residential care places
We are changing residential aged care to place older people first.
The changes will start when the new Aged Care Act begins on 1 July 2025.
Places will be assigned directly to older people who access government-funded residential care services. This will give them more choice and control over which provider delivers their services.
Mainstream residential care providers will no longer need an allocation of places to deliver government-funded aged care services.
Providers that deliver residential aged care through a specialist program will still get allocated places (for example, the Multi-Purpose Services Program or Transition Care Programme).
Why these changes are important
Currently, people can only choose a residential aged care provider that has enough places from an Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR). This limits the choice for older people and restricts a provider’s ability to grow and innovate.
The changes will mean older people will benefit from:
- higher quality of care, through more competition in the sector
- more opportunities and choice in the provider that best meets their needs.
By not having allocated places, new and existing residential care providers will benefit from:
- greater freedom to adjust and expand service offerings to meet demand
- a strong residential aged care market with high quality, innovative and financially viable providers.
Transitional arrangements
Transitional arrangements are in place for residential aged care providers until the new Aged Care Act begins.
Application for ‘bed-ready’ residential care places
If you can immediately provide care, but do not hold allocated places, you can apply for residential care places through the bed-ready application form.
You must demonstrate you are bed-ready and detail how you will meet the needs of potential residents in its community.
You must have a satisfactory provider compliance record – that is:
- no active sanctions
- no recent history of or unresolved systemic non-compliance.
There are no caps on the number of places a provider can apply for. We will maintain a supply of residential care places nationwide until the new Aged Care Act begins.
Email the bed-ready team for more information about the bed-ready process.
Bed-ready allocations – residential care places
Intention to undertake residential developments
Complete the intention to develop form to tell us about places you will need before the new Aged Care Act begins that are not yet ‘bed-ready’.
You must submit details about the:
- proposed service
- number of residential care places required
- expected timing of development milestones.
We will advise in writing that places will be available at the time the development is ‘bed-ready’.
Email the bed-ready team for more information about the bed-ready process.
Removing bed licences
The removal of the ACAR may affect the value of bed licences for some providers, including licences being listed as intangible assets on their financial statements.
You will need to manage this with advice from your accountants and auditors. We do not expect any impact on the overall viability of the sector.
Consultation with the finance sector indicates that banks and finance lenders place limited value on intangible assets (such as bed licences) when assessing finance applications.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) advised us that providers should consider the amortisation period for bed licences or impair them. There are technical accounting questions that underpin the 2 approaches. You should discuss this with your accountants and auditors.
Consultation
We held the first round of consultation in late 2021 with a discussion paper, an online survey and virtual workshops.
The consultation outcomes summary report provides the key themes and outcomes resulting from the consultation.
We then held a second round of targeted consultations with providers and older people in late 2022. The consultations looked at policy approaches for system design and communication strategies.
The consultations will guide the design and implementation of the places to people and related aged care reforms.
Stay up to date
Stay up to date on the aged care reforms by registering for:
- our aged care sector newsletter and announcements
- engagement opportunities, including surveys, webinars, online workshops and consultation papers.
Learn more
For more information, see:
- Places to people – for the general public
- Places to people – for providers
- How residential aged care providers can prepare for success in a competitive market
- aged care reforms information.
Contact
Aged care enquiries contact