This guide explains the new aged care act, the law that now governs government funded aged care in Australia. It started on 1 November 2025, when it replaced the Aged Care Act 1997. If you are entering care, or helping a parent enter care, this is the law that sets your rights, the quality standards your provider must meet, and the fees you can be asked to pay.
The change is the biggest rewrite of aged care law in nearly 30 years. It follows the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which ran from 2018 to 2021 and found the old law was built around providers, not the people receiving care. The new law flips that around: it starts with the rights of the older person, then sets the duties of providers around those rights.
What the New Aged Care Act Is and When It Started
Parliament passed the Aged Care Act 2024 on 25 November 2024. It commenced on 1 November 2025, the same day the Support at Home program replaced Home Care Packages. From that date, the 1997 Act no longer applies to new entrants, and every provider of government funded aged care must be registered under the new law.
The Act covers residential aged care and home care together. It sets out the Statement of Rights, the strengthened Quality Standards, the rules for provider registration, the new fee system for people who enter care from 1 November 2025, and stronger powers for the regulator, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
The Statement of Rights: What Changed for You
The centrepiece of the new law is the Statement of Rights. It replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights on 1 November 2025. The Charter was a list of expectations. The Statement of Rights goes further: meeting it is a condition of a provider's registration, so a provider that ignores your rights can lose the right to deliver funded care.
The Statement covers six areas. In plain terms, you have the right to:
- Independence, autonomy and freedom of choice: to make your own decisions about your care and your daily life.
- Equitable access: to care on fair terms, whatever your background or where you live.
- Quality and safe funded aged care: to care that is safe, well run and suited to your needs.
- Respect for privacy and information: to have your personal information handled with care.
- Person centred communication: to be heard, to get the information you need, and to raise issues without reprisal.
- Advocates, significant persons and social connections: to have people you trust involved, and to stay connected with your community.
In practice, that means you can make your own decisions about your care and have them respected, ask for the information you need to decide, and complain without fear that your care will suffer. The government has published a plain language version of the Statement of Rights in 29 languages, so families can read it in the language they are most comfortable with.
If you think a provider has ignored your rights, you can complain to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822. Our My Aged Care guide explains how to register and raise a concern through the official system.
Stronger Quality Standards and Staffing Rules
The new Act also brought in seven strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards on 1 November 2025. They apply to every registered provider, in residential care and at home. They set clearer expectations on clinical care, food, dementia support, diversity and governance than the old standards did.
A registered nurse on site, day and night
Every residential aged care home must have a registered nurse on site and on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This rule started on 1 July 2023, before the new Act, and it continues under the new law. Small rural and remote homes can apply for a short exemption while they recruit, but the rule itself has not changed.
215 care minutes a day
Homes must also deliver an average of 215 care minutes per resident per day, with at least 44 of those minutes from a registered nurse. This rule became mandatory on 1 October 2024 and also continues under the new Act. The minutes cover direct care from registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers. If you are choosing a home, ask for its latest care minutes figures and compare them with the 215 minute target. Our residential aged care guide explains how to check Star Ratings and staffing before you choose.
One point families often miss: the new Act did not invent the nurse and care minutes rules. They were already law before 1 November 2025. What the new Act did was bring them into a single rights based system, with the Commission able to act when a home falls short.
What Changed on Fees for New Residents
The fee changes are the part of the new law that affects family budgets most. The key fact is the date. If you entered permanent residential care before 1 November 2025, your fee arrangements do not change while you remain in care. This is the no worse off principle, and it also protects people who were approved for a Home Care Package before 12 September 2024.
Everyday living: the basic daily fee stays
Every resident still pays the basic daily fee. It is set at 85% of the single basic Age Pension and was $68.93 a day at 20 September 2026. It covers meals, cleaning, laundry, heating and cooling. The new law did not change it. Read our basic daily fee guide for what it covers and how indexation works.
Two new contributions for new residents
For people who enter care from 1 November 2025, the old means tested care fee is gone. In its place are two contributions. The hotelling contribution covers everyday living costs such as meals, cleaning and laundry, and is capped at $22.15 a day. The non-clinical care contribution covers personal care and lifestyle services, and is capped at $109.45 a day. Together they can add up to $131.60 a day on top of the basic daily fee and accommodation costs.
The non-clinical care contribution stops once you have paid $140,652.80 in total, or after four years of paying it, whichever comes first. Contributions you pay under Support at Home for non-clinical services count toward the same lifetime cap. People who entered before 1 November 2025 stay on the old means tested care fee, capped at $37,055.98 a year and $88,934.57 over a lifetime at the 20 September 2026 rates. Our maximum means tested fee guide sets out both systems side by side.
Accommodation: retention and room price caps
Accommodation rules changed too. For new entrants, a provider can now retain 2% of a lump sum deposit each year for up to five years, which is 10% in total. The maximum room price a provider can charge without approval rose to $750,000 in January 2025 and has since been indexed to $758,627. Daily accommodation payments are now indexed on 20 March and 20 September each year. The interest rate used for daily payments, the MPIR, was 8.51% for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Our MPIR explained guide covers the rate and the formula, and our guide to MPIR when moving homes explains what happens to a locked rate if you change homes.
These fee changes mean some new residents pay more than they would have under the old rules. About half of new residents are expected to pay more, so get a written fee estimate from the home and from Services Australia before you sign an agreement.
Support at Home Started on the Same Day
The new Act commenced alongside a new home care program. Support at Home started on 1 November 2025 and replaced Home Care Packages. Clinical care under the program is free, and you contribute a share of the cost of other services based on your means. Our Support at Home guide explains what changed for families, and our Support at Home hub covers the eight classification levels, funding and contributions.
Stronger Protections and Complaints
The Commission now has stronger powers to act when a provider falls short, including banning orders and civil penalties. The Code of Conduct for aged care workers became a condition of provider registration on 1 November 2025, and protections for people who report poor care were strengthened.
If you are unhappy with care, start with the provider, then contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822. You can also ask an advocate from the Older Persons Advocacy Network for free help. Keep notes of dates, names and what was said, because a clear record makes a complaint much easier to resolve.
What to Check Before You Enter Care
Use this short list before you sign an agreement. Each step takes a few minutes and can prevent a costly surprise.
- Confirm which fee rules apply to you. Your entry date decides it. If you enter from 1 November 2025, ask the home to put your hotelling and non-clinical care contributions in writing.
- Ask for the full fee picture. Add the basic daily fee, the two contributions and the accommodation payment together before you compare homes.
- Check the home's staffing and quality record. Look up its Star Rating on My Aged Care and ask for its care minutes figures against the 215 minute target.
- Read the Statement of Rights. Ask the provider how it meets each of the six areas, and keep a copy with your agreement.
- Get your assessment done early. You need an approved assessment before you can enter care, and our ACAT guide explains how to prepare.
If a fee or a right is unclear, ask the provider to explain it in writing before you sign. A home that cannot explain its fees clearly is telling you something. For the steps before entry, start with our My Aged Care guide, which walks through registration, the phone line and referral codes.
Questions Families Ask About the New Aged Care Act
The answers below cover the questions families ask most about the new law. For the fee figures in detail, read the basic daily fee guide and the maximum means tested fee guide. For the steps into care, read the My Aged Care guide.