Building tomorrow's aged care while delivering today's reform

Australia’s aged care sector is trying to deliver safe, high-quality care today while rebuilding itself for a different future. The Aged Care Act 2024 has moved the system towards a rights-based model, while Support at Home is changing how in-home care is assessed, funded, priced and delivered. The direction is correct: older Australians should have more choice, clearer information, stronger protections and care that reflects their lives rather than the convenience of the system. But the practical challenge is larger than compliance. Providers must turn reform into everyday care while building organisations that are sustainable, adaptable and ready for the next generation of older Australians.

Much of the current reform debate understandably focuses on implementation deadlines, service agreements, pricing rules, workforce demands and regulatory expectations. But the providers that succeed will be those that use the reform to build capabilities needed for the future.

Reform is changing how providers operate

The new Aged Care Act includes a Statement of Rights that places older people’s independence, autonomy, choice, safety, dignity, privacy, access to information and ability to raise concerns at the centre of the system. Care must be delivered in ways that are safe, respectful, person-centred and responsive to the preferences and circumstances of the older person.

Support at Home brings this shift into the everyday mechanics of in-home care. In practice, this means providers are redesigning service models, updating service agreements, changing pricing structures, improving reporting, and helping consumers understand how their funding is being used. These changes affect scheduling, rostering, customer communication, financial management, clinical governance, quality systems, workforce capability and digital infrastructure. Yet focusing only on implementation misses a more important shift. Reform is about changing the relationship between providers and consumers. As older Australians gain stronger rights, greater visibility of costs and more choice over how services are delivered, they are becoming more active participants in decisions about their care. That raises a broader question: what will older Australians value in the future, and what will providers need to do differently to deliver it?

The next generation of older Australians will redefine value

Reform is changing how consumers interact with providers. At the same time, the expectations of older Australians themselves are evolving. Historically, much of aged care has been organised around services and funding programs. Increasingly, older Australians may care less about how support is funded and more about whether it helps them achieve the outcomes that matter to them.

Recent research suggests Australians increasingly associate ageing well with dignity, independence, choice and connection to community. They want support when they need it, but also confidence, information and control for as long as possible. They will judge value not only by whether a service is funded, but by whether it helps them live the life they want. This will expand what providers need to be good at. Consider an older person beginning to experience mobility challenges. They are less likely to ask which funding stream applies than: How do I keep walking? How do I stay in my own home? How do I remain connected to my community?

In the future, older Australians may increasingly expect to access a combination of clinical and non-clinical support designed to maintain their independence and prevent or slow decline. Rather than waiting until they need significant care, they may seek earlier interventions that help them remain mobile, active and connected.

Meeting those expectations will require providers to move beyond individual services. They will increasingly need to help people navigate complex systems, coordinate clinical and non-clinical supports, use technology to simplify the experience and create partnerships that help people remain independent for longer.

Some providers are already moving in this direction, with growing investment in integrated home health models, links between aged care, allied health and primary care, restorative and preventative approaches, and a stronger focus on helping people remain independent at home. These models reflect a shift from organising around individual services towards organising around the outcomes people are trying to achieve.

Adaptability is becoming a core capability

Reform creates an opportunity for providers to rethink how they organise themselves to build their capability to respond to change.

For decades, much of aged care has been structured around funding programs, service categories and compliance requirements. But future consumers are unlikely to see their lives through those same lenses.

Meeting those expectations requires a different way of thinking about service delivery. Adaptability is not simply the ability to respond to policy changes. It is the ability to redesign services, workforce models, partnerships and technology around evolving consumer needs, and to coordinate clinical and non-clinical supports in ways that help people remain independent for longer.

Looking beyond implementation

The immediate focus must remain on implementing reform successfully. But the sector also needs to ask what older Australians will expect from aged care ten years from now, and what capabilities providers will need to meet those expectations.

The real opportunity is to use today’s reform to build aged care that is more responsive to how older Australians want to live.