Government Policy

The three aged care bombshells from Senate Estimates

Last week’s Senate Estimates hearing – held just three weeks before sweeping reforms roll out – gave politicians the chance to ask Government heavyweights the questions they’re getting from constituents and to interrogate the once-in-a-generation changes.

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Caroline Egan

2 hours ago

Government Policy

Aged care’s remoteness tool “not fit for purpose,” consultation finds

The Government’s review of the Modified Monash Model (MMM) – used to allocate rural, regional and remote aged care funding – has found the tool is “useful but limited” and, in its current form, “not fit for purpose” for aged care.

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Caroline Egan

4 hours ago

Home Care

Countdown to 1 November: Home care customers “incredibly confused” by co-contributions

With the new Aged Care Act just two weeks away, Community Vision CEO Yvonne Timson says the Perth Not For Profit’s priority is helping its 150 Home Care Package clients make sense of new pricing and budgets.

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Caroline Egan

5 hours ago

Government Policy

Aged care visa deal brings just 249 overseas workers in 2.5 years

The Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement (ACILA) program – central to the Federal Government’s plan to ease aged care workforce shortages – has fallen well short, with only 249 overseas recruits arriving since May 2023, according to a new report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).

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Caroline Egan

5 hours ago

Government Policy

“Three whole wards” can’t be discharged: Premier ramps up call for aged care funding

Tasmania’s Premier Jeremy Rockliff says the number of hospital patients medically cleared but unable to be discharged would “fill three full wards,” intensifying pressure on the Commonwealth to lift investment in aged care and disability supports.

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Caroline Egan

6 hours ago

Government Policy

Under the hood of Services Australia’s new aged care systems – and good news

When a leading WA provider told The Weekly SOURCE they couldn’t see Support at Home contribution rates by 1 October – the Reform Roadmap deadline – we asked Services Australia for comment.

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Caroline Egan

6 hours ago

Retirement and Community Living

Thousands of NSW village residents to benefit from embedded network price cap

Embedded electricity networks – common in retirement villages, land lease communities, apartment blocks and shopping centres – supply multiple premises from a single grid connection and may include electricity, gas, hot water, chilled water or air conditioning. An estimated 95,000 NSW households are covered by these arrangements.

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Ian Horswill

13 Oct 2025

Government Policy

Further moves to accelerate retirement living in SA sit on desk of Planning Minister

South Australia – now at the epicentre of Australia’s aged care crisis – is yet to decide whether to allow greater building heights for large retirement villages and supported living developments, despite mounting pressure to expand accommodation options for its ageing population.

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Ian Horswill

13 Oct 2025

Government Policy

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

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

Aged Care

Disability SA Northgate aged care home rated 5 Stars for compliance despite being monitored over misuse of physical restraints

Disability SA Northgate,. an aged care home in northeast Adelaide, operated by the South Australian Department of Human Services, has been placed under heightened supervision after an inspection in May 2025 identified issues related to the service’s continued misuse of restrictive practices.

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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