The Aged Care Taskforce (Taskforce) will review funding arrangements for aged care and develop options for a system that is fair and equitable for everyone in Australia.

We’re seeking feedback on draft aged care funding principles

The Taskforce is interested in your views on the following draft aged care funding principles which will inform the work of the Taskforce. The draft aged care funding principles are:

Principle 1 – The aged care system should enable and encourage participants to remain in their home for as long as they wish and can do so.

Principle 2 – Aged care funding arrangements and their outcomes should be fair, simple, transparent and sustainable.

Principle 3 – Government is and will continue to be the major funder of aged care. Government funding should be focused on care costs. Personal contributions should be focused on accommodation and everyday living costs with a sufficient safety net.

Principle 4 – Government and participant contributions should be sufficient to provide quality and appropriate care delivered by a skilled workforce, allowing and encouraging innovation by the health, hospital and aged care systems.

Principle 5 – There should be accountability for funding received from government and participants, how it is spent, and the quality of the services provided.

Principle 6 – The residential sector should have access to sufficient, and new, capital to encourage the development of new accommodation and upgrades to existing accommodation.

Consultation questions

Your feedback is invited on consultation questions on the draft principles. Before you submit your feedback you may wish to learn about how aged care funding currently works here: how people pay for aged care [download pdf | download docx].

You are encouraged to focus on questions and issues relevant to you, and do not need to answer every question.

1. Is Australia’s aged care system and how you pay for aged care easy to understand? If not, why not?
2. What does “fairness” in aged care funding and care services look like?
3. Is funding for Australia’s aged care system sustainable? If not, what is needed to make it sustainable?
4. What costs do you think consumers in aged care should contribute to and to what extent? How is this different for care, compared with everyday living expenses or accommodation?
5. What does quality and appropriate care mean to you?
6. What does innovation in aged care mean to you? How can funding support it?
7. What is the role of Government versus private investment in funding upgrades and constructing new facilities? Is the role different in rural and remote locations?
8. Is there anything else you think the Taskforce members need to know about Australia’s aged care system?

Please refer to the ‘Submit your feedback’ box on this page for options on how to share your views.

Submit your feedback

Please choose any of the following options to share your views on this consultation:

• Email a written submission (maximum attachment size 33MB) to agedcaretaskforce@health.gov.au
• Post a written submission to:
Attention: Aged Care Taskforce
Department of Health and Aged Care
Mail Drop Point 7 South
GPO Box 9848
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

While the consultation closed at 5PM AEST, 31 August 2023, the Taskforce still welcomes your feedback on the draft aged care funding principles. As the Taskforce is due to deliver its interim report to the Government in October 2023, any submissions received after this date are unlikely to be considered in the preparation of this report. Later submissions will instead be considered for the final report, due in December 2023.

When making a submission, please indicate whether you wish for your submission to be published on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website. The Department of Health and Aged Care retains, at its absolute discretion, the right not to publish any submissions or part thereof, where it considers it appropriate to do so. Personal contact details for all submissions will be removed or redacted from each submission before they are published. Your information will be stored securely and used in accordance with the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Privacy Policy.

Have your say at a face-to-face forum

The Council on the Ageing (COTA) and the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) are hosting in-person consultation forums across Australia. The forums will give you the opportunity to give feedback in a safe and inclusive setting.

For more information on the forums, including locations and dates, and to register, visit the OPAN website.

What happens next

Your feedback will contribute to the review of funding arrangements for aged care and the development of options for a system that is fair and equitable for everyone in Australia.

Taskforce members will provide Government an interim report this October and a final report in December 2023. Recommendations made by the Taskforce will be considered by Government.

More information

You can read about the Aged Care Taskforce here:

• Aged Care Taskforce

• Aged Care Taskforce – Terms of Reference (4 pages)

• You can request a hard copy of the Terms of Reference by emailing agedcaretaskforce@health.gov.au or calling 1800 318 209.