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 your community. Please provide evidence such as an approved occupancy certificate (or similar approval), floor plans and photographs of the proposed accommodation to support your application.
A minimum of 10 business days is required to consider your application, from receipt of the above supporting documents.
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
What providers need to do before 1 July 2025
Remove bed licences
The removal of the ACAR will affect the value of bed licences for providers who have them listed as intangible assets on their financial statements.
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.
The consultation outcomes summary report provides the key themes and outcomes resulting from the consultation.
Residential care places – before 1 July 2025
All residential care places allocated from the former Aged Care Approvals Rounds, or through the current bed-ready process, will cease to exist from 1 July 2025. This means that activities such as transfers, variations or managing provisional places will also cease to be managed by the Department. From 1 July 2025, the new regulatory reforms being introduced mean that Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission will oversee any changes to total beds at a residential care home.
Providers are encouraged to review their residential care places records and take any necessary action with their local State or Territory office:
- any offline and/or provisional places that will not be made operational prior to 1 July 2025 can now be relinquished
- any offline and/or provisional places that will be made operational prior to 1 July 2025 require relevant forms and notices to be completed and submitted to your local State & Territory office to make operational
- if you have any operational places you are not using (i.e. due to staffing constraints, or development reasons), ensure these are up to date
- if all of your residential care places are operational, then you do not need to take any action.
In preparation for these changes, there will be a short period during which new applications relating to places cannot be made. If a decision is required before 1 July 2025, we ask you to lodge your applications within the timeframes specified below. Applications received after these dates may need to await the commencement of the new provider registration arrangements being introduced by the Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission from 1 July.
| Activity | Timeframes for lodgement with your Local Network Office | Process from 1 July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Transferring an aged care service or place to another organisation or internal entity | Close of Business Thursday 17 April 2025. | Request changes to the registration of a residential care home |
| Commencing care | Close of Business Thursday 5 June 2025. | Request changes to the registration of a residential care home |
| Varying the conditions of allocation for operational places | Close of Business Thursday 17 April 2025. | Not applicable under the new Aged Care Act. |
| Combining co-located residential services | Close of Business Thursday 17 April 2025. | Request changes to the registration of a residential care home |
| Allocations of additional bed ready places. | Close of Business Thursday 5 June 2025. | Not applicable under the new Aged Care Act. |
| Closure management and/or relinquishing operational places | Contact your Local Network Office as soon as possible. | Contact your Local Network Office as soon as possible. |
More information on the new arrangements for provider registration, please visit the Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission’s website to read more about the Provider Registration Policy.
We encourage you to discuss your applications and places management activities with your local state or territory office as early as possible.
Residential care places – after 1 July 2025
The new aged care regulatory model sets out how the aged care sector will operate under the new Aged Care Act when it starts on 1 July 2025. The new model will introduce universal provider registration and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will oversee the registration and renewal process. Learn more about the new regulatory model.
Current government-funded aged care providers will be moved to registration categories under the new regulatory model on 1 July 2025. This process is called deeming and is based on the services you deliver, or the services required to be delivered in your current funding agreement. Providers will be deemed according to data the department holds at 1 July 2025. Learn more about the deeming process.
If you need to advise about a service closure, please continue to contact your local state and territory office.
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