Aged Care

Home care wait list surges past 120,000 ahead of 1 November

The number of Australians waiting for a Home Care Package has jumped to 121,909 – up 26% in just three months – as fresh data reveals the full scale of the home care backlog.

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Lauren Broomham

10 Oct 2025

Sector Moves & People

Treasure Jennings appointed Aged Care Complaints Commissioner

Treasure Jennings, the current head of Victoria’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, has been appointed Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, effective 1 November 2025, just as the new aged care reforms take effect.

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Caroline Egan

09 Oct 2025

Government Policy

Aged care assessments like a “lottery” with Department forced to reallocate referrals

The Department of Health, Disability, and Aged Care has intervened in redirecting delayed aged care assessments to organisations that have “greater capacity”, following reports 120,000 older Australians are on the waiting list to be assessed.

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Caroline Egan

09 Oct 2025

Development

Opal HealthCare to start construction on co-located Clayfield Terrace Care Community, Brisbane

Australia’s largest aged care provider Opal HealthCare has announced it will begin construction on the 133-bed Clayfield Terrace Care Community aged care home adjacent to Aveo’s Clayfield Retirement Living village in Brisbane, next year.

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Caroline Egan

09 Oct 2025

Funding

21 aged care homes’ worth of hospital patients stuck waiting for discharge

As Premiers and Health Ministers battle Canberra over hospital funding, a new report has revealed a key reason costs are surging: thousands of older Australians remain stranded in hospital beds because there’s nowhere else for them to go.

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Caroline Egan

08 Oct 2025

Opinion

Is prevention – and Hospital in the Home – the only cure for an ailing health system?

Australia needs more aged care beds and more Home Care Packages – but we also need to stop treating hospitals as the first and last resort. That means a focus on prevention – and on alternative models like Hospital in the Home.

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Lauren Broomham

09 Oct 2025

Aged Care

Residential aged care use growing more rapidly than home care: regulator

The latest Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) Sector Performance Report shows that residential aged care use is growing faster than home care, despite Government policy being firmly focused on supporting older Australians to remain at home.

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Caroline Egan

08 Oct 2025

Aged Care

Just 54% of metro aged care homes meet care minute targets ahead of penalties

Just over half of metropolitan aged care homes are meeting both of the Australian Government’s mandatory care minute targets, despite financial penalties set to begin in less than six months.

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Caroline Egan

08 Oct 2025

Aged Care

Nurses’ union challenges Opal HealthCare on reporting of care minutes

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMF) has launched a dispute against Opal HealthCare in the Fair Work Commission, alleging the aged care giant is not transparent in how it records mandatory care minutes.

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Caroline Egan

08 Oct 2025

Aged Care

Westpac Leading Conversations: do aged care operators have the ambition to drive change?

Do aged care leaders have the ambition to drive change? Aged care leaders Sandra Hills OAM, Matthew Filocamo, Faye Spiteri OAM, Caroline Lee and Brian Wong considered the question, and others, at a recent Westpac Leading Conversations at the Wharf lunch in Melbourne, hosted by Westpac and DCM Group.

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Caroline Egan

09 Oct 2025

Aged Care

Only in SATURDAY: Roshana’s next chapter – betting on regional care and medical integration

Roshana Care Group CEO Dr Rosh Jalagge is turning his focus to the regions – reopening closed homes, building GP-led health hubs and creating vertically integrated care ecosystems that link aged care, primary care and mental health. Read the full feature in the new issue of SATURDAY, out tomorrow.

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Caroline Egan

09 Oct 2025

Mergers & Acquisitions

Hall & Prior acquires Lake Cathie Manor for 15th aged care home in NSW

Hall & Prior has added another home to its growing New South Wales portfolio, acquiring Lake Cathie Manor, a 129-bed aged care home on the state’s Mid North Coast that only opened last year.

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Caroline Egan

08 Oct 2025

Mergers & Acquisitions

Bain Capital assesses what’s best for fattened Estia Health 23 months after $838M buy

The US-based private investor is reportedly believed to have contracted investment bank Barrrenjoey to see if its residential aged care business can be sold for a sizeable profit or should be floated on the ASX. The Australian, which reported Bain...

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Ian Horswill

09 Oct 2025