The new 124-bed Uniting Amala aged care home has been completed, with the provider’s Director of Ageing Saviour Buhagiar saying its household model was the future of residential aged care.

Uniting Amala, which is in Gordon, a suburb in the south of Canberra, ACT, has six households of 18-20 people, including two memory support units offering dementia care.

It operates Uniting’s household care model, which aims to give residents greater freedom to make their own choices throughout the day, and is co-located with Uniting Amala Independent Living Village and Uniting Canberra Seniors Gym to provide a continuum of care across settings. It took eight years to build.

“We’re proud to showcase the household model in Canberra to be an example of how older Australians can have more independence in residential aged care,” said Mr Buhagiar.

“The Royal Commission agrees that smaller homes with more personal care should be encouraged and developed and we hope the Federal Government can look to Uniting Amala to see what can be achieved by this model.”