Places to people – Embedding choice in residential aged care

Allocation of residential care places

Under the Aged Care Act 2024 (the Act), residential care places are assigned directly to older people who have been approved for government-funded residential aged care services.

Once approved, an older person’s residential care place does not expire and moves with them. 

Residential aged care providers no longer need an allocation of places to deliver government-funded aged care services. 

Providers that deliver residential aged care through specialised aged care programs (e.g., Multi-Purpose Services Program or Transition Care Program) will continue to be allocated places.

Why this change was introduced

The Act has introduced a new way to manage places. Previously, older people could only choose a residential aged care provider that had enough places from an Aged Care Approvals Round. This limited the choice for older people and restricted a provider’s ability to grow and innovate.

This means older people benefit from:

• higher quality of care, through more competition in the sector
• more opportunities and choice of providers that best meet their needs.

Residential aged care providers also benefit from:

• greater freedom to adjust and expand their service offerings to meet demand
• a stronger and sustainable residential aged care market, focused on delivering quality care.

Provider-allocated places

All residential aged care places allocated from the former Aged Care Approvals Rounds, or through the bed-ready process, ceased to exist as of 1 November 2025.

Existing residents were automatically allocated a place to ensure continuity of care. New residents will be assigned a place when assessed and approved for care.

Total number of beds

Aged care providers and residential care homes are registered through the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission).

As part of your registration, the Commission approves the total number of residential beds at each approved residential care home.

The total number of beds must be equal to or less than any maximum number of people that can live in the residential care home.

Any changes to total beds at a residential care home will be overseen by the Commission. You will need to vary your registration with the Commission when:

• increasing the total number of beds
• reducing the total number of beds (i.e., taking beds offline for more than 2 years).

For more information about changes to the number of available beds

Offline beds

As a registered provider, you are required under the Aged Care Rules 2025 (sections 167-5-70) to notify the Commission when beds in your approved residential care home are offline and not available for use:

• a period of at least 3 months for homes in Modified Monash (MM) 1-5 regions
• any period of time for homes in MM 6 and 7 regions.

How to report

As of 23 March 2026, you can manage offline beds in the Government Provider Management System (GPMS). You will need to log onto GPMS and click on the Manage your Organisation tile to:

• record beds as offline
• make offline beds available for use.

For step-by-step instructions, refer to our guide on how to report offline beds.

Questions

If you experience technical difficulties with GPMS, please contact the My Aged Care service provider and assessor helpline on 1800 836 799.

Alternatively, the Local Network can assist if you have any questions or require further assistance to complete this process.

Resources

• Guide to report offline beds in residential aged care
• Frequently Asked Questions for older people
• Frequently Asked Questions for providers
• How residential aged care providers can prepare for success in a competitive market

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