2025 Year in Review: Aged Care

The most prominent feature on the 2025 landscape was the introduction of the new Aged Care Act 2024 on 1 November.

Delayed four months from a 1 July rollout, the reforms contained in the Act deliver a ‘rights-based’ system, a recommended of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The events of the year, detailed below, created a challenging backdrop for this new framework, a backdrop marked by scarcity in the context of soaring demand.

Construction of new beds is languishing, consumers are waiting up to a year for home care, and the new Single Assessment system, implemented on 1 January, has failed to keep pace with need. Hospitals are overflowing with patients waiting for aged care.

The reforms, for residential aged care, offer certainty but more complexity. This year has seen a large number of mergers and acquisitions, as smaller operators opt out of the sector, and large operators up their scale.

For home care, less than a month in, operators are telling us the reforms have imposed a huge administrative and cost burden, and higher prices are causing consumers to cut back on services or decline care altogether.

At this challenging juncture, there is also opportunity. And that’s why we will be moving forward next year with our Plan T, where we hope to find sector-led solutions to the sector’s most intractable problems.

January

• The new Single Assessment System was implemented on 1 January.
• Estia acquired seven aged care homes from Aurrum Aged Care, cementing its position as one of the top three residential aged care operators in the country.
• The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission named 11 aged care operators for not meeting mandatory care minute targets.
• Liz Hefren-Webb took up the role of Aged Care Commissioner.

February

• Private equity firm Private Equity Partners acquired AMP Capital’s 50% stake in Opal HealthCare, Australia’s largest private residential aged care operator. 
• Data showed 10 aged care homes closed in 2024, and, though 1,250 new beds opened during the year, 800 beds were lost.
• Estia Health acquired two Mark Moran homes, adding 260 beds to Estia’s portfolio in NSW. 

• The Government announced new minimum liquidity ratios for providers, aimed at improving financial sustainability.
• The home care waiting list climbed beyond 81,000.

March

• The Government announced metro residential aged care providers would lose funding if care minute targets weren’t met from April 2026.
• BaptistCare, Baptcare and Baptist Care SA announced a three-way merger, forming a new entity that would serve more than 38,000 people and employ more than 12,000 staff.
• Former Interim Inspector-General Ian Yates AM warned the home care system is under strain from rising demand. 

• Peak bodies, representing aged care and retirement living operators, called on the Government to reduce proposed liquidity standards.
• Aged care turnaround specialists Respect acquired Amana Living’s aged care services in WA, expanding the Not For Profit’s presence into Western Australia for the first time. 
• The WA Government created a standalone Aged Care and Seniors portfolio, with Simone McGurk appointed Minister.
• Medibank subsidiary Amplar Health was awarded a $31.2 million Government contract to trial virtual nurses across 30 aged care homes to pilot a new telehealth model.

April

• StewartBrown warned aged care margins will decline within 12 months without reforms. 
• The Fair Work Ombudsman announced it will investigate 20 aged care providers under a wage compliance probes to recover unpaid entitlements for aged care workers. 
• Opal HealthCare announced the acquisition of five aged care homes from Cranbrook Care, strengthening their presence in NSW. 
• Class action specialist Echo Law launched a case against Bupa Aged Care, targeting systemic issues across Bupa’s 57 homes. 
• Arcare opened a new 110-suite aged care facility in Melbourne, with five more homes planned to open in 2025.
• Former McKinsey senior partner Damien Bruce was appointed National CEO of Calvary Health Care.

• Former Ramsay Health Care executive Olivier Chretien was appointed new Group CEO of Bolton Clarke.

May

• Apollo Care expanded to 13 homes with the acquisition of Resthaven on Quarry in Mackay, Queensland, as part of regional growth strategy. 
• The Government tightened care minute rules to ensure providers weren’t counting social support care minutes for non-care staff like bus drivers. 
• First-term Parliamentarian Sam Rae was appointed Minister for Aged Care, replacing another MP, Anika Wells, in a post-Election reshuffle.

• The Department of Health and Aged Care was renamed to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, reflecting a broader mandate after the election.
• Respect entered Queensland with the acquisition of seven aged care homes from BlueCare plus four co-located villages.
• $57 million was allocated to dementia hospital-to-care transition programs, aimed at easing discharge pressures and improving aged care handovers.
• Bundaberg Regional Council announced it would exit home care after 25 years ahead of the introduction of Support at Home.
• For Purpose Aged Care opened its second WA home, Mandurah Community Care facility, and announced a new brand, For Purpose Aged Care Australia, retiring the Luson and Signature Care names.
• An inquiry into NSW Health funding said the aged care bed shortage will continue to ‘bedevil’ hospitals and called for more Federal Government support to ease pressure on hospital emergency departments.

June

• On 4 June, the Federal Government announced the introduction of the new Aged Care Act would be delayed by four months, giving providers – and the Government – extra time to prepare. 
• Two days later, it emerged the promised rollout of an additional 83,000 Home Care Packages would also be delayed.
• Crossbenchers united over delivery delays and broken funding promises, and called for the urgent release of 20,000 Home Care Packages. 
• Home care and disability services provider Annecto announced that after 70 years, it would cease operations across multiple states. 
• An Enkindle Consulting survey revealed financial viability was the top concern for home care providers, ahead of workforce.

July

• The regulator locked in new liquidity standards for aged care providers, raising pressure on undercapitalised operations.
• ASX-listed Regis Aged Care snapped up Rockpool’s four aged care homes for around $340 million. The sale releases capital for Rockpool to keep building.

• Australian Unity, Australia’s largest home care provider, acquired mobile allied health services provider Plena Healthcare for $70 million, tripling its customer base.
• Arcare opened its first ACT home, Arcare Aranda, in Canberra’s north.
• After 12 years on the board, Paul McClintock AO retired as Chair of St Vincent’s Health Australia. His replacement was Paul O’Sullivan, former Optus CEO and Head of Cabinet Policy under the Howard Government.
• The Government’s Single Assessment System came under pressure, following revelations consumers are waiting up to nine months for an assessment.
• The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission stepped up assessments of aged care homes failing care minute targets, ahead of financial penalties for non-compliance.
• Western Australia’s Metro Inner Development Assessment Panel recommended approval of St Bart’s aged care facility, East Perth, providing 80 aged care beds for people over 50 with a history of homelessness.
• Aged care assessments came under further pressure following revelations older people were conducting their own observations and assessments were being done by phone to clear backlogs. 
• The home care waiting list rose to 87,597.
• A Senate Inquiry into the aged care reform delays and withholding of Home Care Packages was approved, with the backing of the Coalition, Greens, and Independents.
  

August

• Hospital ramping reached a record high in Western Australia, leading the state’s Premier Roger Cook to say, “The way you could fix it is to ensure that the Commonwealth does more to fund aged care beds.”
• With 287 patients stuck in the state’s hospitals waiting for aged care, a record high, South Australia’s Health Minister, Chris Picton, announced capacity at the Pullman Hotel Transition Care Service operated by Amplar Health would double.
• Respect acquired its ninth home, Chaffey Aged Care, a 100-bed facility in Merbein, 533km northwest of Melbourne.
• Annecto went into liquidation, possibly having traded while insolvent.
• Inspector-General of Aged Care Natalie Siegel-Brown revealed her office received reports of “loved ones dying while waiting” for home care, and called on the Federal Government to release additional Packages before 1 November.

• Respect acquired three aged care homes plus three retirement villages on the NSW Mid North Coast from NVC Group.
• Medicare-owned Amplar Health kicked off its Federal Government-funded virtual nursing trial.
• The former Acting Inspector-General of Aged Care Ian Yates said growing wait times and the decision to delay 83,000 Home Care Packages by four months amount to a “denial” of services.
• Regis Aged Care reported its FY25 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was $125.8 million, up 17% on the previous year. Revenue rose 14.5% to $1.2 billion.

September

• The Government backed down from its decision to delay new Packages, and in a hastily arranged press conference, Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Minister Sam Rae announced 20,000 Home Care Packages would be released before 1 November.
• The waiting list for a Home Care Package blew out to 109,000.
• The Senate Inquiry into Aged Care Service Delivery heard almost 5,000 older Australians died last financial year waiting for their correct level of Home Care Package.
• Opal HealthCare acquired three aged care homes from Australian Aged Care Group, expanding its Victorian footprint.
• Estia Health snapped up Brisbane-based Vacenti Aged Care, with six established Queensland homes plus a development in Cleveland nearing completion.
• Arcare opened Arcare Croydon, 35km east of the Melbourne CBD – its fourth new home for the year.

• The Government revealed the new AN-ACC price would be $295.64 per resident per day from 1 October 2025 – a 5.6% rise on last year’s $280.01 rate. The hotelling supplement increased from $15.60 to $22.15 per resident per day – a 42% increase.
• The Government announced the recipients of 66 Aged Care Capital Assistance Program grants worth $300 million in total. The largest – a grant of more than $50 million – went to Southern Cross Care (QLD)’s proposed 94-bed residential care home in Broken Hill, NSW.
• The Government released the “final major version” of the Support at Home Manual, six weeks before the new program rolled out.
• State Premiers and Health Ministers met Federal Health Minister Mark Butler in Perth, revealing nearly 2,500 older Australians are stuck in hospital unable to access aged care.
• The final Aged Care Rules landed, with only 38 working days before they were due to take effect.
• Regis Aged Care warned it will scale back development plans after the Federal Government’s AN-ACC price announcement and classification reweightings left funding growth well short of expectations.
• Not For Profit Whiddon announced it has six Collaborative Health Care Initiative pilots live across regional NSW, in an effort to tackle some of the biggest challenges in aged care – from hospital discharge bottlenecks to shared staffing, procurement and transport. 
  

October

• From 1 October, direct care aged care workers and aged care nurses received pay rises under the Fair Work Commission’s Work Value case, which determined working in aged care had historically been undervalued due to gender-based assumptions.
• Aged Care Minister Sam Rae announced policy expert Nigel Ray PSM and academic Associate Professor Nicole Sutton would lead the Residential Aged Care Accommodation Pricing Review, a recommendation of the Aged Care Taskforce.
• Former Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was appointed MD & CEO of Australian Unity, with Rohan Mead stepping down after 21 years.

• The Inspector-General of Aged Care’s 2025 Progress Report on Implementation of the Aged Care Royal Commission Recommendations concludes the "transformative change” called for by the Royal Commission is not on track.
• Perth-based Hall & Prior acquired Lake Cathie Manor on the Mid North Coast, expanding the group’s growing New South Wales presence.
• The Home Care Package waiting list rocketed to 121,909.
• In Senate Estimates, it was revealed only 802 aged care beds were built in 2024-25, when the Department estimates 10,600 will be needed annually over the next decade.
• StewartBrown’s FY25 survey put average EBITDA at $6,817 per bed per annum, a long way from the $20,000-$22,000 needed to make the sector 'investable’, the accountants said.
• The number of older Australians in hospital waiting on an aged care bed rose to about 2,800 – a 12% increase in only one month.
• Third Sector Australia Limited, trading as Momentum Collective, entered voluntary administration, including 675 CHSP clients.
• Regis announced it was acquiring OC Health’s two aged care homes, Ocean Mist, in Torquay, southwest of Melbourne, and Drysdale Grove, near Geelong.
• Uniting NSW.ACT and Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care were announced as the builders and operators of a new Redfern aged care home.

November

• The new Aged Care Act took effect.
• The Senate voted to establish two new aged care inquiries: one into the transition of the CHSP to Support at Home, and the other to investigate the ability of older Australians to access Support at Home.
• Western Australian operator Roshana Care Group acquired its third Melbourne aged care home, Graceland Manor, in Elsternwick, 9km south-east of the CBD.
• Less than two weeks into Support at Home, Adrian Morgan, General Manager of Queensland home care provider, Flexi Care, said clients are already turning down services due to higher prices.
• Respect acquired its 40th aged care home, Queensland’s Glenella Care.
• With only 5,400 beds added in the last four years but 10,000 needed annually, Regis Chair Graham Hodges told the company’s AGM, “I believe we are fast heading into a community crisis unlike anything Australia has seen before."
• mecwacare completed its 22nd aged care home, John Hood Terrace, 3km east of Melbourne’s centre in Richmond.
• State and Territory Premiers issued a joint letter to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging the the Federal Government to commit to hospital funding of 42.5% by 2030 and 45% by 2035, fulfilling a 2023 promise.

• The sector learned Support at Home Package levels will be determined by an algorithm – with no manual override option.

December

• Senate Estimates reveals that 93% of the Home Care Packages allocated in November were Interim Packages, delivering funding at only 60% of the recommended level.
• The Inspector-General of Aged Care’s My Aged Care review was finally released, finding “the system fails before care even begins”.
• The Australian sparked market speculation that Pacific Equity Partners could merge Opal HealthCare with Estia Health, a move that would combine Opal’s 142 homes and Estia’s 90 into a 200-plus-home aged care giant.
• Regis Healthcare announced it was selling its two Far North Queensland homes, The Ayr and Home Hill, to Queensland-based Not For Profit Ozcare. 
• Prestige Inhome Care announced its third acquisition in eight weeks, snapping up Omni-Care, one of Melbourne’s largest home care providers.

• ACH Group announced two projects: a $120 million, 72-apartment retirement village at Rose Park, east of the Adelaide CBD, and a $70 million, 150-bed residential aged care home at Dover Gardens, in southeast Adelaide.
• Scalabrini Communities has entered South Australia for the first time, acquiring aged care provider The Society of Saint Hilarion, including its two Adelaide residential aged care homes and 160 Home Care Packages.
• States and Territories reject Canberra’s latest hospital funding offer, warning “bed block” is effectively taking two NSW hospitals offline as around 3,000 older and disabled patients nationwide remain stuck in public beds awaiting Commonwealth-funded aged care, home care or NDIS supports.
• Bain Capital-owned Estia has widened its aged care merger hunt beyond Opal, with DataRoom reporting it (or its advisers) has also sounded out ASX-listed operator Regis Healthcare about a potential tie-up.
• MYEFO confirms aged care is no longer a runaway Budget pressure, with funding growth slowing as pricing pressure is set to intensify for providers.