Government Policy

RLC’s Daniel Gannon tells Economic Reform Roundtable: retirement system stuck in the past

Retirement Living Council Executive Director Daniel Gannon has told the Federal Economic Reform Roundtable that Australia’s retirement system is failing to keep pace with demographic and economic realities.

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Ian Horswill

19 hours ago

Government Policy

Productivity Commission’s Interim Report on Care recommends merging aged care and NDIS

The Productivity Commission (PC)’s Interim Report on Delivering Care More Efficiently, written at the request of the Federal Government and published ahead of next week’s Economic Reform Roundtable, recommends a single regulator across aged care, the NDIS and veterans’ care in six years.

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Caroline Egan

14 Aug 2025

Government Policy

What is the Henry VIII provision in the new Aged Care Bill?

The only hearing of the Senate Inquiry into the Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025 and Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (ACOLA) was held last Friday in Canberra, allowing little time, and at short notice, to interrogate the Bills.

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Caroline Egan

13 Aug 2025

Government Policy

SA Govt doubles capacity at Adelaide’s Pullman Hotel as aged care residents in hospital hits record high

As of 11 August 2025, there were 287 patients stuck in South Australian hospitals waiting for an aged care bed - the highest number ever recorded. SA Health Minister Chris Picton has announced capacity of the state’s Transition Care Service at the Pullman Hotel will double.

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Caroline Egan

14 Aug 2025

Government Policy

Exclusive: Department releases Support at Home templates for service agreements

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has released templates for new services agreements and a range of other materials to help home care providers meet their obligation of establishing or varying agreements with customers in preparation for the rollout of Support at Home on 1 November 2025.

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Caroline Egan

13 Aug 2025

Community Living

Active Utilities powers Living Choice’s retirement villages with new community battery rollout

Living Choice Australia has partnered with energy solutions provider Active Utilities to deliver large-scale community batteries at its Fullarton and Flagstaff Hill retirement villages in Adelaide – part of a push to give residents cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy.

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Ian Horswill

11 Aug 2025

Legal Issues

WA’s amended Retirement Villages Act signals major shift in operators’ obligations

Amber Crosthwaite, Partner specialising in Care and Living at WA legal firm Lavan, says the amendments to the Retirement Villages Act 1992 (WA) formally separate capital maintenance from capital replacement – a change that significantly alters operators’ financial and governance responsibilities.

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Ian Horswill

11 Aug 2025

Government Policy

Aged Care and Seniors Minister seeks extension on Senator’s request for information

The Aged Care Minister’s office has sought an extension on the request last week in the Senate from Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne for the release of all communication between the Department and the Minister’s office about aged care assessment wait times and the financial impact on consumers of the incoming reforms.

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Caroline Egan

07 Aug 2025

Home Care

Home care leaders on not having any new Home Care Packages

New Home Care Packages are only being released when someone on a package passes or enters residential aged care. With 87,597 older Australians waiting for the level of Home Care they have been assessed as needing in the March quarter, providers are bearing the brunt.

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Caroline Egan

07 Aug 2025

Government Policy

Government spending on aged care external contractors grows by another $68 million

The Weekly SOURCE takes a look at some of the most significant recent Australian Government contracts awarded by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority, and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, totalling.$68 million.

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Caroline Egan

07 Aug 2025

Aged Care

Providers “walk tightrope” between care minute compliance and funding: Mirus

The latest survey by aged care advisors Mirus suggests compliance and costing of care minute targets is a major concern for aged care providers, with their survey finding 28% said their greatest concern was overspending on workforce, and 28% said their biggest concerns was missing care minute targets.

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Caroline Egan

06 Aug 2025

News & Issues

WA Premier to Canberra: “Do better on aged care” as hospitals overflow with older patients

Hospital ramping has reached a record high in Western Australia, leading the state’s Premier Roger Cook to lay the blame squarely at the feet of the Federal Government. Data showing ambulances were ramped for a record 7,009 hours outside Western Australian hospitals in July prompted questions to Premier Cook about the treatment of an 84-year-old man who took a maxi taxi to hospital on 25 July after being told there was a 130-minute wait for an ambulance.

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Caroline Egan

06 Aug 2025

Government Policy

VIC moves to ban PCWs from administering key medications in aged care

The Victorian Government has introduced new legislation that would ban personal care workers (PCWs) from administering certain medications in residential aged care.

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Caroline Egan

06 Aug 2025