The Aged Care and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (ACOLA) provides supporting legislation necessary for the Aged Care Act 2024 (the new Aged Care Act) to function as intended, with technical amendments and updates to superseded legal references.
It also enables the new risk-based regulatory framework, by providing rule-making powers to the government to address emerging needs.
The Bill has three sections:
- Schedule 1 - proposes 304 changes to the new Aged Care Act. An example is changing the old definition of accommodation bond to the new definition. New definitions are generally contained in the Aged Care Rules, which the Government has promised to release in their final form in the "coming weeks".
- Schedule 2 - proposes changes to the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024, which was passed last year to support "transitional arrangements" for the new Aged Care Act.
- Schedule 3 - proposes amendments to other laws, mainly to ensure the new terminology is reflected in existing laws. Schedule 3 also includes substantial changes to the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, to ensure health information can be used in the delivery or health and aged care services.
Catholic Health Australia, which represents operators providing approximately 12% of all aged care homes in Australia and around 20% of all home care services, welcomed the introduction of the Bill to parliament.
Catholic Health Australia CEO Jason Kara (pictured) said, “Moving ahead with aged care reforms during the re-elected government’s first sitting week is an important sign that aged care is rightly being treated as a key priority.
“These amendments are a very welcome step forward, helping to ensure people’s care is not disrupted as the new Aged Care Act is implemented.
"The Aged Care Act marked a significant bipartisan commitment to empowering older Australians to live the life they choose with dignity and respect. We hope this same collaborative spirit will guide the swift passage of the ACOLA Bill, giving certainty to older Australians and their families,” Jason said.
The Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendement Bill 2025 was also introduced to parliament today. It makes changes to the Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Act 2006, and is a requirement of the Aged Care Act 2024. Passage of this legislation is not intended to have any practical impact when enacted.
