Until November — new Aged Care Act delay campaign claims win

On 4 June, after receiving advice from the sector and experts, the Australian Government announced it would recommend to the Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, that she proclaim the commencement of the new Aged Care Act to be 1 November 2025. “These are once-in-a-generation reforms, which put older Australians at the centre of aged care,” Australia’s Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler said.

“We want to make sure that all operational, digital and legislative pieces are in place before the rollout starts,” Butler added. “This brief deferral allows providers to train their staff and have conversations with their clients, get their IT systems ready and prepare operations for an orderly transition.”

Under the new Act, aged care laws are transformed to put the rights of older people first. Included, for the first time, is a Statement of Rights for older people and a Statement of Principles to guide how providers and workers must behave and make decisions. Commencing with the new Act is the Support at Home program, which supports older people to remain healthy, active and socially connected to their community.

“This is about ensuring the new Aged Care Act and Support at Home is ready for older Australians and their families,” Australia’s Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae said. “We will continue to work hand-in-hand with older Australians, the sector and the Taskforce to make sure the benefits of these once-in-a-generation reforms are realised.”

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Ageing Australia

“This decision is the result of months of intense discussions and calls for practical timelines for the sector. We know that rushed reforms would put levels of care at risk for older people,” Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson said. “We applaud the government for listening to the concerns of the aged care sector and putting the needs of older Australians first.

“We fully support the new rights-based Aged Care Act, but the simple truth is we’re not ready to introduce all the sweeping reforms by 1 July. Providers have been working around the clock to ensure a smooth transition, but we just haven’t received all the information we need in order to proceed,” Symondson said. “The additional time will give us the critical space we need to finalise agreements, systems and processes.”

Symondson called the decision to delay “a win for the 1.4 million older Australians who rely on aged care. We need to do this reform once and do it right. We hope this extension will help us get closer to that goal”.

OPAN

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) responded saying it “reluctantly supports the delay”. “Until now, OPAN has been steadfast in its call for the Act to be implemented, as promised, on 1 July 2025, because older people can’t get the aged care they need without it,” OPAN CEO Craig Gear OAM said.

“However, over the past weeks, it has become increasingly apparent that, while the macro design of the reform is solid, older people don’t have the necessary information to make informed choices at an individual level, particularly around the new Support at Home program.

“We are also concerned that the appropriate systems aren’t yet in place to ensure continuity of care and services for older people during the transition,” Gear added. “It is for these reasons, OPAN reluctantly supports the delay announced by the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Minister for Disability and the NDIS Mark Butler and the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae today.”

During the four-month delay, OPAN is calling for the release of a minimum 20,000 additional home care packages — to reduce the current 83,000 people waiting up to 11 months to receive the appropriate level of home care. “Inadequate in-home care support pushes older people prematurely into residential aged care,” Gear said.

“This is not the time to take our foot off the pedal. Older people have been waiting years for an Act that enshrines their rights in legislation. This delay risks pushing out the timeline for them to receive more timely and rights-focused aged care,” Gear said.

“We need to use this four-month window to urgently address outstanding issues, which include accessible hardship provisions for those with limited means, and roadblocks in the single assessment system which are exacerbating waiting times for in-home aged care.

“Older people must also be provided with the level of detail they need to make informed choices and give their informed consent.” OPAN also advised that last week it had, with COTA Australia, written to government to jointly raise concerns.

On the day of the announcement, Rae released an open letter to aged care providers that outlines how the new Aged Care Act brief deferral will impact providers and the sector. It is available to read here, via the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website. (An open letter to older people was also released.)

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