2022

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (2018–2021) highlighted significant concerns about the quality of care provided in residential aged care facilities. One of the key findings was that many aged care providers were not allocating enough care staff to meet the needs of residents, leading to incidents of neglect, abuse, and overall poor care outcomes.

The Commission recommended mandatory care minutes as part of its broader strategy to improve the sector. The idea was to guarantee that every resident received a minimum level of care, regardless of the facility they were in.

The Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC), which commenced on 1 October 2022, was highly anticipated to address longstanding under funding and restore financial wellbeing across the aged care sector by increasing the amount of care funding received by service providers. However, due to the direct relationship between levels of AN-ACC funding and the amount of direct care required for each resident, all additional funding was required to be invested in ‘care minutes’ for extra care. The additional funding and related staff increase was beneficial to the care and support of residents; however, it exacerbated, rather than relieved, the financial burden.

As Resthaven CEO Darren Birbeck commented:

‘The introduction of AN-ACC, while a positive move, did not restore a position where providers could feel confident about the future. Resthaven’s experience is that the additional funding does not meet the additional staff costs… Many years of care funding below the rate of inflation and the wage growth have progressively eroded the margin generated for reinvestment in building upgrades and service improvements.’

‘… The current financial environment acts as a disincentive to increasing the supply of residential aged care homes. Fortunately, increased funding for home care and support programs is enabling older people to remain within their communities. ‘

Mandatory care minute targets were introduced from 1 October 2023, along with Board governance reforms.

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