Government delivers more than 17,500 new aged care places

More than 17,500 new aged care places will be delivered across the country, worth an estimated $833 million, following the conclusion of the 2014 Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR).

The funding will help meet demand for residential aged care across the country, and support people to stay in their own home for longer.

This funding round we saw a huge demand from residential aged care providers.

It was a highly competitive round clearly demonstrating renewed interest in aged care, following recent changes aimed at supporting service viability, reducing their compliance burden and increasing business flexibility.

This was the highest number of residential aged care places sought through an ACAR since 2007.

Older Australians will benefit from 11,196 new residential aged care places worth an estimated $660.5 million in annual recurrent funding.

A further 6,653 new home care places, worth an estimated $173.1 million in annual recurrent funding, will help older Australians remain living in their own home for as long as possible.

This is an increase from the 5,835 home care places allocated last year, and will contribute to the Government’s commitment to increasing the number of home care packages from around 66,000 to around 100,000 nationally by 2017.

New or existing providers have also been allocated $103 million in capital grants to help them establish new services or upgrade their facilities.

The ACAR will also have a significant impact supporting people with dementia, with an additional 1,131 residential aged care places and 200 home care places dedicated to clients living with dementia.

The ACAR is the process that allocates funding for new Government residential aged care and home care places and for capital grants each year.

More information on the 2014 ACAR is available at: www.dss.gov.au/2014ACAR