New Aged Care Act: exposure draft consultation

Closed 8 Mar 2024

Opened 14 Dec 2023

Contact

1800 318 209

AgedCareLegislativeReform@health.gov.au

Results updated 31 May 2024

Overview

On 14 December 2023, we released an exposure draft of the Bill for the new Act for public consultation. 

The consultation ran until 8 March 2024, during which we sought feedback from everyone with an interest in aged care, including:

  • older people, their families and carers
  • aged care providers and workers
  • advocates and representatives
  • researchers
  • experts
  • sector peaks, associations and unions.

During the 12-week consultation, we: 

  • received over 320 submissions and more than 800 surveys 
  • heard from more than 10,000 people at our 3 webinars, 42 workshops and 5 roundtables.

What we heard

Some of the most common matters raised in the feedback we received were: 

  • the time available to implement the new Act 
  • how people’s rights will be upheld 
  • how supported decision-making, whistleblower protections and the new definition of high-quality care will work in practice 
  • the proposed new due diligence duty on board members and responsible people 
  • the Complaints Commissioner’s independence. 

To learn more about what we heard during this consultation, read the consultation feedback report.

What happens next

The extensive and valuable feedback is informing the final Bill that will be introduced to Parliament.

Subject to parliamentary processes, the new Aged Care Act will commence on 1 July 2025 to align with the launch of the new Support at Home program.

For more information about the Act, visit the department's website.

Written submissions

The following submissions were received during the consultation.

Consent to publish these submissions has been provided.

The views and recommendations expressed in these submissions are those of the authors and are not the views or recommendations of the Australian Government. The Government accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any material contained in these submissions.

Please note submissions may have been redacted to remove sensitive or personally identifiable information such as names of individuals and email addresses. If you have any concerns about information that has been published, please contact us at AgedCareLegislativeReform@health.gov.au.

Files:

Overview

On 14 December 2023, we released an exposure draft of the Bill for the new Act for public consultation. 

The consultation ran until 8 March 2024, during which we sought feedback from everyone with an interest in aged care, including:

  • older people, their families and carers
  • aged care providers and workers
  • advocates and representatives
  • researchers
  • experts
  • sector peaks, associations and unions.

 

Audiences

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
  • Seniors
  • Men
  • Women
  • Carers and guardians
  • Families
  • Non-government organisations
  • State government agencies
  • Commonwealth agencies
  • Local governments
  • Health professionals
  • Health workforce
  • General public
  • Community groups
  • Aged care service providers
  • Aged care workforce
  • Aged care professionals

Interests

  • Dementia
  • Home Care
  • Aged Care
  • Residential Aged Care
  • Short-Term Restorative Care