Aged Care Taskforce
The Taskforce is due to deliver its final report to government in December 2023.Consultation has now closed
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.
- Is Australia’s aged care system and how you pay for aged care easy to understand? If not, why not?
- What does “fairness” in aged care funding and care services look like?
- Is funding for Australia’s aged care system sustainable? If not, what is needed to make it sustainable?
- 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?
- What does quality and appropriate care mean to you?
- What does innovation in aged care mean to you? How can funding support it?
- 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?
- Is there anything else you think the Taskforce members need to know about Australia’s aged care system?
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: