Money trail: New Gov report details aged care spending and growth

The latest report on the operation of the Aged Care Act has been released with the annual document detailing how the government spent its $35.7 billion over 2023-24. 

Key figures for 2023-24

• Nearly 60% of aged care’s $35.7 billion expenditure was on residential aged care
• Roughly 1.5 million people received aged care services
• More than half of aged care recipients accessed basic support at home
• There were 736 approved providers of residential aged care and almost 190,000 permanent residents
• 909 approved providers of Home Care Packages supported 275,486 recipients
• 1,265 organisations were funded to deliver Commonwealth Home Support Program services to over 800,000 clients

Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said the 2023–24 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 shows encouraging signs and positive results from the ‘huge changes’ made by the current government in recent years.

She highlighted the new Aged Care Act, Support at Home, the star ratings system and direct care requirements as key reasons for the success. 

“We want to ensure that we get these critical changes right to build a high-quality, safe and person-centred aged care system that older people and their families trust,” she added. 

Allocation changes

Among the most noteworthy statistics in the report is how the government manages supply and demand. 

The government explained that it manages the supply of aged care places by specifying a national target provision ratio, which as of June 30, 2024, was 71.4 operational aged care places for every 1,000 people aged 70 years and over. Home Care Packages are not defined as operational places and are not included in the ratio. 

“The Australian Government’s needs-based planning framework aims to grow the supply of aged care places in proportion to the growth in the older population. It also seeks to ensure balance in the provision of services between metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas, as well as among people needing differing levels of care,” the report stated. 

• The total number of operational residential and flexible aged care places on June 30 was 235,977. This represents an increase of 2,608 residential and flexible aged care places since 30 June 2023. 
• As of June 30, 275,486 people utilised a Home Care Package, an increase of 17,112 since 30 June 2023.

The allocation of residential aged care places will change when the new Act comes into effect with places assigned directly to older people. 

Funding growth

Australian Government expenditure for aged care throughout 2023–24 totalled $35.7 billion, an increase of 27.8% from the previous year. As mentioned earlier, 60% – or $21.2 billion – was allocated to residential aged care.

Home care saw the next largest investment of $7.5 billion, followed by home support ($3.8 billion, flexible care ($1 billion) and various investments totalling $2.2 billion.

Residential aged care’s $21.2 billion investment is nearly the equivalent of aged care’s total expenditure in 2019-20. 

A considerable proportion of the growth came from the $11.3 billion committed to the aged care worker wage increase (15% increase). This was the largest increase to award wages in a work value case under the Fair Work Act. 

In 2023–24, the Australian Government allocated funding of approximately $141 million for 17 Regional Assessment Services providers to deliver assessment services in all states and territories. $140.3 million was also allocated to the Aged Care Assessment Program (ACAP).

Other workforce investments included the Nursing Clinical Placements Program, Nursing Scholarships Program, Registered Nurses’ Payment program and Equip Aged Care Learning Packages.

The report also highlighted dementia support investments as a major growth area during the last financial year. This included $74.8 million for the Dementia and Aged Care Services (DACS) Fund, plus funding for the Dementia Training Program ($27.2 million) and Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Services ($26 million)

Informed access

The government’s main entry point to the aged care sector is My Aged Care, a website with information about the aged care system and providers. This is where the aged care star ratings can be found. My Aged Care enables people to make informed choices about aged care. 

In 2023–24, the My Aged Care contact centre handled 1,821,241 calls, and provided practical support, information, and advice. The My Aged Care website received a total of 5,930,666 visits. Nearly 3.8 million My Aged Care information products were distributed during the year.

For more information, including detailed information on progress across the CHSP, Home Care Packages and residential aged care, visit the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.