Hospital funding deal struck, but no quick fixes for aged care shortfall

After weeks of escalating pressure from State Governments, Australia’s hospital funding standoff has edged toward resolution – but without the full funding boost that Premiers were seeking.

Meeting in Sydney on Friday, State and Territory leaders accepted an additional $4 billion from the Commonwealth, rather than the $5 billion increase they had pushed for on top of the existing $21 billion offer under the National Health Reform Agreement.

“As part of this deal, the commonwealth will provide an additional $25 billion for public hospitals to reach a record $219.6 billion over the next five years,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

"We need to get older, longer-stay patients out of hospital rooms and into dedicated care, and the aged care reforms will assist with that."

The States united last year, commissioning research showing the high number of long-stay patients in hospitals waiting on Federally funded residential aged care is ballooning costs, and demanding increased funding from the Commonwealth.

Data collected by The Weekly SOURCE shows there are nearly 2,800 patients stuck in hospital beds waiting for a place in residential aged care.

Despite the agreement, NSW Premier Chris Minns warned an injection of funding would not provide a quick fix, particularly given the pervasive shortages in aged and disability care.

“We’ve got an ageing cohort, so as much as the system is stretched today, we can expect even further problems in the future,” he said.

Labor’s signature Thriving Kids program and associated NDIS eligibility changes also is being delayed after pushback from the States and Territories, with the Prime Minister  revealing the system designed to redirect autistic children off the NDIS will be “fully implemented” by January 2028.

The Government’s original timeline was for Thriving Kids to begin its phased rollout from the middle of this year, and ramp up over the following 12 months.