Aged care has been left out of the five key areas of reform identified by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing as priorities for the re-elected Labor Government, according to a 2025 Incoming Government Brief authored by Department Secretary, Blair Comley PSM.

The 109-page brief, which has been released under Freedom of Information laws, lists Five Pillars of reform, as detailed in the image below.

The priorities were developed "collaboratively" with the Government in the first half of the year, according to the report.

Implementing the sweeping once-in-a-generation aged care reforms, which were delayed by four months in June, have been prioritised under "ongoing initiatives", alongside the National Health Reform Agreement, embedding tobacco and vaping reforms, and establishing the Centre for Disease Control.

The report also lists "lifting the number of people accessing aged care" as one of 20 commitments to achieve in 2025-26.

There has been a blowout in wait times for aged care services, with the current waiting list for home care currently at 81,000, according to the latest data available, and thousands of older patients in hospitals waiting for an aged care bed to become available.

The brief can be read in full here.