Is this the hardest board seat in Australia?

Being a Chair in aged care is not a prestige role – it’s a risk position.

Board directors are facing civil penalties, personal liability, financial fragility, workforce shortages and ongoing political scrutiny. And a regulator that now expects directors to understand clinical risk, financial sustainability and governance detail – simultaneously.

This is the reality of governance in today’s aged care world.

As we report in this edition, 34 residential aged care providers have exited the sector in the past 12 months alone. In home care, Support at Home is accelerating the same outcome: providers must scale, merge or close.

In short, boards are no longer stewarding stability – they are navigating survival. That changes the job description entirely.

It is one thing to join the board of a successful organisation. It is another to help steer one operating on thin margins, rising costs and structural uncertainty. Every decision carries consequence while every delay carries risk.

And unlike most sectors, directors cannot just focus on financial performance. They carry statutory responsibility for care outcomes. If something goes wrong, accountability does not stop with management – it stops with the board.

But while the risk has never been higher, there is good news.

Board calibre is rising

Speaking to Chairs across the sector for our special Chairman’s edition of SATURDAY, it is clear that the calibre of directors has never been stronger.

Across the sector, Chairs are bringing sharper commercial discipline, tougher governance frameworks and a willingness to confront difficult realities earlier. They understand that mission alone is not enough – without financial sustainability, there is no organisation left to protect.

While more directors are being remunerated, many are not doing it for the money.

Most serve because they believe in the purpose – and because they recognise the importance of strong governance in protecting older Australians.

Haydn Chrystal, the Chair of national home care provider Silverchain, saw this firsthand.

“What struck me most was the scale, complexity and professionalism of the organisation,” he said. “It’s not something you fully appreciate until you’re inside it.”

That complexity is only increasing.

They must act sooner, interrogate harder and make decisions that shape whether organisations survive the decade ahead.

The buck does not stop with management – it stops with the Chair.

The encouraging reality is that aged care is not struggling to attract leaders capable of carrying that responsibility.

Instead, it is attracting people who understand exactly what it means – and are stepping forward anyway.

Because aged care does not just need directors – it needs stewards.

Read the full Chairman’s edition of SATURDAY for our inside look at how Chairs are navigating rising accountability, reform and the decisions now defining organisational survival. It’s available tomorrow at 12pm. Not a subscriber? Sign up here.