Aged care reform deal has been reached

After months of negotiations, the Albanese government has announced a deal on aged care reform has finally been reached, with bipartisan support from the Coalition, and a new Aged Care Act will be introduced into parliament today.

In a press conference this afternoon the Prime Minister called the reforms "historic" and thanked the Coalition for their constructive engagement in negotiations, as well as acknowledging the hard work of Aged Care Minister Anika Wells, Health Minister Mark Butler and economic Ministers Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher.

"Reforms like this don't happen every day, they are once in a generation and this is very significant," Mr Albanese said.

"We will deliver historic age care reforms to ensure the viability and quality of our age care system and support the growing number of older Australian choosing to retain their independence and remain in their homes as they age.

"As a result of the reforms that we're announcing today around 1.4 million Australians will benefit from a new Support at Home Program by 2035, helping them remain independent in their home and their community, for longer.

"$5.6 billion will be invested in a reform package, which includes these major changes; $4.3 billion invested in At Home to come into effect on 1 July next year.

"Changes to improve the funding, viability and quality of residential aged care, including providing certainty that nobody already in aged care will be asked to contribute more to the cost of their care.

"Thirdly, new laws to protect older Australians in aged care with stronger powers to investigate bad behaviour and civil penalties for breach of standards."

Related stories: Crunch time for new Aged Care Act | Further delays to aged care act, as negotiations pushed to September | Aged Care Taskforce recommends wealth-based funding

As late as Tuesday evening the fate of Taskforce reforms and the new Aged Care Act were up in the air as the Coalition had yet again flagged their concerns with the 500 pages of legislation. The ABC has reported that changes were made to the document yesterday.

Key changes to the legislation include the grandfathering of the new fee structure in which wealthier Australians will be required to pay more for aged care, now only applicable to new entrants into the system, and the scrapping of a Voice of Workers, which proposed the inclusion of a union delegate in every workplace.

While appearing on 2GB radio earlier today, the Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he wants all Australians to get the best care possible.

"I want there to be sustainability in the aged care system. I want people to know that when you know your mum or dad, grandma or grandpa go into an aged care setting, that they're getting the best care provided," he said.

"And so we’ve been in discussions with the government to have a look at what they’re proposing, and then we’ll make a decision as to what our next step will be.

"We've got an ageing population, we have to deal with that and sometimes there are tough decisions to make, but we'll have that discussion and then see what we do from there."

Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell reported that the legislation will:

• Save the federal budget between $13-14 billion over the next decade
• Provide more money for regional aged care facilities
• Introduce a sliding scale to determine how much older Australian pay for care
• Allow a portion of the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) to be retained by the provider (two per cent per year, over five years)

The House of Representatives will not sit again for another month, making it crucial that the legislation was introduced to parliament in this week's sitting.

More details of the deal are expected to be released later today.

Read more: Funding for 100 additional aged care facilities for rural and remote communities | What the ministers said at IDC24

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