Aged care providers say the final Aged Care Rules 2025 have landed far too late, warning that with just 38 days until the 1 November start date, implementation is “complex at best and impossible at worst.”
Released in four stages since October last year, the Rules cover everything from provider registration, conditions and obligations to the new Code of Conduct, Quality Standards, subsidies, funding, complaints handling and oversight. They also spell out the framework for the new digital platform operator, liquidity management requirements, and the regulatory system more broadly.
While some provisions remain unchanged from the existing framework, others impose significant new obligations that providers must now scramble to embed in the few weeks before commencement.
The release follows months of lobbying from peak body Ageing Australia, which had pressed the Government to finalise details well ahead of the Act’s start date.
One CEO, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Weekly SOURCE the timing is untenable:
“Appreciating that both legislation and the accompanying Rules are an important part of our political process, the practicality of implementation now – with merely 38 days until commencement – seems complex at best and impossible at worst. The delays were clearly driven by Government, not the sector as the Minister has suggested. Once again, we are left to meet significant new requirements in a very short timeframe, after long political delay.”
The finalisation of the Rules comes less than two weeks after supporting legislation to the Aged Care Act 2024 passed Parliament. That legislation secured Senate support only after the Government agreed to release an additional 40,000 Home Care Packages before the end of 2025.
With the Act now weeks away, providers face a dual challenge: interpreting the final Rules and ensuring compliance systems are ready in time.
Access the final Rules here.
