Aged-care reforms update – November 2024

2024 has been a year of changes across the aged-care industry. In the last edition we told you about the creation of our Client Advisory Group and the Quality Care Advisory Body, as required by the Aged Care Act 1997.

The members of the Quality Care Advisory Body are managers, clients and frontline and clinical workers who are interested in the quality of care delivered by integratedliving.

The Consumer Advisory Group’s purpose is to be a voice on behalf of all clients, carers and family members to continuously improve the care and services you receive by providing valuable feedback to our Board.

We are pleased to announce both advisory bodies have been operating for almost a year, with meetings held, feedback received, reports reviewed and valuable insights discovered on how to improve our quality of care. We will soon be inviting eligible clients to join our Client Advisory Group in 2025.

The Australian Government remains focused on implementing the Support at Home program. It will bring together the current in-home aged-care programs - Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care. It is designed to ensure a simpler and more equitable system to help older Australians stay at home for longer.

You can read more about it at health.gov.au/our-work/support-at-home

In addition to the new Support at Home program, the following reforms are scheduled to come into effect on 1 July 2025 pending parliamentary approval.

1. New Aged Care Act
2. New Regulatory Model
3. Strengthened Quality Standards