The Long View. Aged care in Australia. The Long View. Aged care in Australia.

Funding + pricing

The evidence base for aged care’s missing price says the funding model’s own relativities need a rethink

IHACPA costed 200 homes, 12,537 residents and 355,830 days of care, measuring direct care time with Bluetooth devices. The average permanent resident cost $430 a day, and $768 in the most remote homes against $419 in the cities. The report’s own recommendation five asks whether the AN-ACC price weights still match what care actually costs.

28 July 2026

Quality + safety

Seven in ten aged care homes carry the same star rating. The spread is hiding in the sub-ratings

The May 2026 extract, computed in full: 71.9 per cent of rated homes hold 4 stars and exactly one home in the country holds 1, yet a quarter of homes score 1 or 2 stars on Staffing and 27.2 per cent miss a mandated care-minutes target. The national distribution, the state league table, and the quarter’s movers, two-to-one downward.

18 July 2026

For families

The median wait for home care services has doubled to 245 days

Eight months, typically, from approval to help actually arriving, on the Productivity Commission’s own tables. Where the time goes and what you can do while you wait.

18 July 2026

Workforce

From 1 August, aged care nursing pay rises for the last time under the work value case. The exact new rates

The determination was signed on 15 July. A first-year RN’s award minimum reaches $1,571.60 a week; the full table, from the document itself.

18 July 2026

Regulation + the Act

Support at Home price caps are paused. Here is what stands between you and an unfair bill now

The Minister’s stated reason, the refund powers and quarterly price summary that replaced the ceiling, and what both peak bodies say.

18 July 2026

Funding + pricing

Is aged care losing money? The sector’s two scorecards disagree, and both are right

61 per cent of homes at an operating loss beside 64.5 per cent of providers profitable: different populations, windows and metrics, explained.

18 July 2026

Quality + safety

The banning register names 461 people and not one provider. How aged care enforcement actually works

Bans attach to people; providers answer through different tools. A decoded guide, with a real enforceable undertaking as the worked example.

18 July 2026

Regulation + the Act

The government’s own inspector: the aged care ‘transformation’ has not been achieved

The statutory reviewer’s verdict, quoted from the report itself, credits included: the law mandates the destination; the machinery is not built yet.

18 July 2026

Funding + pricing

The price that funds every aged care bed expires on 30 September. Its replacement is not published yet

The anatomy of the $295.64 AN-ACC price, and the ten-week gap providers are budgeting into. We will report the new number the day it lands.

18 July 2026