Aged care news highlights from the fortnight ending 27 September 2024, aggregated by Ideagen.

The information in the ACE Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the aged care sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of Ideagen.

Residential Care and General Aged Care News

A new era for aged care

According to Community Care Review, Australia has introduced a new Aged Care Act with significant funding and reforms designed to improve service delivery, enhance worker wages, and ensure timely support for seniors.

The government has a new plan for residential aged care. Here’s what’s changing

According to Aged Care Insite, after months of negotiations between the major parties, the government has announced it will implement the Aged Care Taskforce recommendations.

Sector reacts positively to new Aged Care bill

According to Aged Care Insite, after months of anticipation, providers, peak bodies and consumers have reacted to the news of a bipartisan deal on the future of Australian aged care.

Australia’s aged care overhaul: what are the changes, and will you have to pay more?

According to The Guardian, a new means-testing formula, more funding to remain at home and help for providers – here’s what you should know.

Further $3.8bn investment for aged care wages

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the Albanese Government will invest a further $3.8 billion into aged care wages over the next four years, building on its $11.3bn commitment in 2023, and on top of the $5.6bn announced by the Prime Minister last week. Around 340,000 aged care workers in residential and home care will see these increases from 1 January 2025, with many workers receiving further increases from 1 October 2025.

Government reveals AN-ACC changes to fund higher staff wages

According to Hello Care, the Government has announced it will invest an additional $3.8 billion over four years to fund the next round of aged care pay rises, making the statement just days after the generation-defining new Aged Care Act was presented to Parliament.

The devil is in the details: AN-ACC funding changes and complexities

According to Hello Care, major changes to AN-ACC funding present a much-needed victory for certain pockets of the aged care sector. Regional and rural providers should be especially excited over funding boosts after being lumped together with metropolitan providers in some scenarios.

Sector Performance Report Q4 (1 April to 30 June 2024) available now

According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, our latest aged care Sector Performance Report (SPR) is now available on our website. The report includes data from 1 April to 30 June 2024.

What the new Monthly Care Statements mean for aged care workers

According to Hello Care, from October 1, 2024, all aged care providers are encouraged by the government to provide their clients with written or verbal monthly care statements, outlining individual health updates such as wellbeing and medication changes. Providers who want to provide monthly care statements voluntarily from October 1, 2024, are asked to register on the Department of Health and Aged Care website for additional support and relevant updates. 

$900m pledge for rural and remote aged care

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, older Australians will now have access to quality safe aged care services, regardless of where they are based, thanks to $900 million in funding from the Albanese Government.

“Looming threat” – Superbug deaths increase in over 70s by 80 per cent

According to Aged Care Insite, a new study, published in The Lancet, has forecast that drug-resistant infections will be the direct cause of tens of millions of deaths by the middle of the century.

Community still believes dementia is a normal part of aging, says global study

According to Aged Care Insite, eighty per cent of the general public incorrectly believe that dementia is a normal part of ageing, according to a new global study by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI).

Home Care News

No significant developments this fortnight.

Legislation

Aged Care Bill 2024 [CTH] – introduced 12 September 2024

The Australian Government introduced the Aged Care Bill 2024 to parliament on 12 September 2024. The Bill is for a new Aged Care Act – the main law that sets out how the aged care system operates.

Aged Care Legislation Amendment (September Indexation) Instrument 2024 [CTH] – commenced 20 September 2024

The purpose of the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (September Indexation) Instrument 2024 (the Amending Instrument) is to increase the dollar amount of certain accommodation related supplements payable to approved providers of aged care services in respect of a day on or after 20 September 2024 in line with the change to the Australian consumer price index (CPI) over the 6 month period from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024, in addition to increasing the value of the annual and lifetime caps and income and asset testing thresholds in line with the changes to the age pension rates.

Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Subsidy and Other Measures) Instrument 2024 [CTH] – partially commenced 20 September 2024; further provisions commence 1 October 2024

The Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Subsidy and Other Measures) Instrument 2024 amends aged care subordinate legislation to provide for changes to:

• how the responsibility of approved providers of residential care to provide a staff average amount of direct care (‘care minutes’) each quarter is calculated, and to how that responsibility may be met;
• the amount of residential care hotelling supplement;
• the amount and the method of calculating the amount of residential care basic subsidy;
• the amount and method of calculating the amount of registered nurse supplement; and
• residential care accommodation payments arrangements.

Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 [CTH] – referred to Committee 19 September 2024

The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (the Bill) seeks to enact a first tranche of reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 (the Privacy Act) to implement a number of the legislative proposals that were agreed by the Government in its September 2023 Response to the Privacy Act Review. The Privacy Act Review Report, released in February 2023, concluded that comprehensive reform is required to ensure the Privacy Act is fit for purpose and capable of addressing the heightened data risks of the digital age.