Five changes every aged care operator should know from 1 July
Key points
- Higher wages: Annual Wage Review lifts award pay by 4.75%
- Super changes: Employers begin paying super every pay cycle
- Accommodation updates: RAD cap and MPIR both increase
- CAPS restored: Support at Home recipients regain eligibility
The first day of the 2026-27 financial year marks some significant changes that every aged care operator should be factoring into their planning.
Here are the top five changes occurring on 1 July:
- Workers employed under the Aged Care Award, the SCHADS Award, and the Nurses Award will receive the 4.75% Annual Wage Review pay rise
- Employers must pay staff their superannuation entitlements every pay cycle, not quarterly as per the previous arrangement
- The maximum Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) operators can charge residents without approval from the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) will increase to $789,686
- The MPIR will rise to 8.43%, its highest level in six years
- Support at Home and Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) participants will have their Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS) eligibility restored – and the annual payment will increase to $739.40.
Additionally, on 29 June, the Department rolled out changes to the GPMS Registered Provider Portal, including:
- Enhanced provider self-service, including updating responsible person details
- Quarterly Financial Report updates, including for residential care time delivery
- Integration of DocuSign into the GPMS
- Multi-factor authentication for the Provider Operations Collection Form, and
- The ability to switch between multiple provider records within the same organisation in provider records.
Support at Home price caps were set to be introduced from 1 July 2026, but in May, less than six weeks before implementation, the Government deferred the plan.
