Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025

This Determination, the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025, prescribes the deemed classification levels, priority categories and place allocations that are to be taken to exist in the successor Aged Care Act 2024 regime for particular classes of individuals who, immediately before the transition from the old aged care law to the new law, held approvals or assessments under the old law (the old Act). The instrument is made by the System Governor and dated 29 October 2025 (front matter), and is expressly made under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024 (the CTP Act), as stated at section 3. The instrument commences at the same time as the Aged Care Act 2024, and is noted as taking effect on 1 November 2025 (section 2, commencement table).

Mechanically, the Determination operates by reference to the transition mechanics set out in Schedule 2 to the CTP Act. It says that for particular classes of individuals described in Schedule 2 to the CTP Act the new Act is to be treated as having established, at the transition time, particular classification levels under subsection 78(1) of the new Act, to have assigned particular priority categories under subsection 86(1) of the new Act, and to have allocated places under subsection 92(1) of the new Act (see sections 5 and 6 of this Determination). The instrument therefore performs a statutory mapping from specific approvals, assessments or program-participation statuses under the old law into named classification types and classes, priority categories and place allocations in the new statutory architecture. It applies particularly to service groups labelled in the Determination as home support, assistive technology, home modifications (section 5), and residential care (section 6).

The Determination sets definitions and cross-references. It defines CTP Act and CTP Rules (section 4(1)), and instructs that expressions used in the Determination that are defined in subitem 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act carry the same meanings in the Determination (section 4(2)). It also clarifies that an expression used in the Determination and in the new law (the Aged Care Act 2024) has the same meaning in the Determination as in the new law, subject to a different rule for expressions that appear in the old law: those carry their old-law meaning only where the use relates to an event or state of affairs under the old law before the transition time, or where the Determination preserves an old-law provision despite repeal (section 4(3) and (4)).

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Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia

Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025

I, Blair Comley PSM, System Governor, make the following determination.

Dated 29 October 2025

Blair Comley PSM

System Governor

Contents

1 Name

2 Commencement

3 Authority

4 Definitions

5 Service groups home support, assistive technology and home modifications

6 Service group residential care

1 Name

This instrument is the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025.

2 Commencement

(1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Commencement information
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Provisions Commencement Date/Details
1. The whole of this instrument At the same time as the Aged Care Act 2024 commences. 1 November 2025

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3 Authority

This instrument is made under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024.

4 Definitions

(1) In this instrument:

CTP Act means the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024.

CTP Rules means the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Rules 2025.

(2) An expression used in a provision of this instrument and defined in subitem 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act has the same meaning in that provision as it has in that Schedule.

Note: The following expressions used in this instrument are defined in subitem 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act:

(a) new Act;

(b) new law;

(d) old law;

(e) transition time.

(3) An expression used in a provision of this instrument and in the new law has the same meaning in that provision as it has in the new law, subject to subsection (4).

(4) An expression used in a provision of this instrument and in the old law has the same meaning in that provision as it had in the old law to the extent that:

(a) the use of the expression in that provision relates to an event that occurred, or a state of affairs that existed, under the old law before the transition time; or

(b) the provision has the effect that a provision of the old law continues to apply despite the repeal of the old law.

5 Service groups home support, assistive technology and home modifications

(1) This section is made for the purposes of subitem 4(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act.

Individuals approved under section 22‑1 of the old Act as recipients of home care

(2) For the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies:

(a) the classification level taken to be established for each of the individuals in the class under subsection 78(1) of the new Act at the transition time for the classification type specified in column 1 of an item of the following table for the service group specified in column 2 of the table item that those individuals are taken to be approved for under subitem 2(1) of that Schedule is the classification level specified in column 3 of the table item; and

(b) if the circumstances specified in column 4 of the table item apply in relation to the individuals in the class and the classification type for the service group—the priority category that each of those individuals is taken to have been assigned for the classification type for the service group under subsection 86(1) of the new Act at the transition time is the priority category specified in column 5 of the table item; and

(c) if the circumstances specified in column 6 of the table item apply in relation to the individuals in the class and the classification type for the service group—a place is taken to have been allocated under subsection 92(1) of the new Act at the transition time to each of those individuals for the classification type for the service group.

Classification levels, priority categories and place allocations—home care
Item Column 1 Classification type Column 2 Service group Column 3 Classification level Column 4 Circumstances—priority category Column 5 Priority category Column 6 Circumstances—place allocation
1 Ongoing Home support Each of the following that applies to the individual:(a) if, as at immediately before the transition time, the levels of care to which the individual’s approval was limited included level 1—HCP class 1;(b) if, as at immediately before the transition time, the levels of care to which the individual’s approval was limited included level 2—HCP class 2;(c) if, as at immediately before the transition time, the levels of care to which the individual’s approval was limited included level 3—HCP class 3;(d) if, as at immediately before the transition time, the levels of care to which the individual’s approval was limited included level 4—HCP class 4;(e) if, as at immediately before the transition time, the individual was a prioritised home care recipient:(i) if the individual’s level of care as a prioritised home care recipient was level 1—HCP class 1; or(ii) if the individual’s level of care as a prioritised home care recipient was level 2—HCP class 2; or(iii) if the individual’s level of care as a prioritised home care recipient was level 3—HCP class 3; or(iv) if the individual’s level of care as a prioritised home care recipient was level 4—HCP class 4 As at immediately before the transition time, the individual was not a prioritised home care recipient (a) for an individual whose priority for home care services under section 22‑2A of the old Act, as at immediately before the transition time, was high—urgent; or(b) for an individual who, as at immediately before the transition time, was being provided with flexible care through an innovative care service—high; or(c) for an individual whose priority for home care services under section 22‑2A of the old Act, as at immediately before the transition time, was medium—the priority category established for the individual under section 27 of the CTP Rules As at immediately before the transition time, the individual:(a) was a prioritised home care recipient but had not entered a home care service; or(b) had entered a home care service and had not ceased to be provided with home care through the home care service
2 Short‑term Assistive technology AT transitional Not applicable Not applicable All circumstances
3 Short‑term Home modifications HM transitional Not applicable Not applicable All circumstances

Individuals approved under section 22‑1 of the old Act as recipients of flexible care in the form of short‑term restorative care

(3) For the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(b) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies:

(b) in all circumstances—a place is taken to have been allocated under subsection 92(1) of the new Act at the transition time to each of those individuals for the classification type for the service group.

Classification levels—flexible care in the form of short‑term restorative care
Item Column 1 Classification type Column 2 Service group Column 3 Classification level
1 Short‑term Home support (a) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, an episode of short‑term restorative care had not commenced—SAH restorative care pathway; or(b) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, an episode of short‑term restorative care had commenced but had not been completed—STRC class
2 Short‑term Assistive technology (a) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, an episode of short‑term restorative care had not commenced—AT medium; or(b) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, an episode of short‑term restorative care had commenced but had not been completed—AT transitional
3 Short‑term Home modifications (a) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, an episode of short‑term restorative care had not commenced—HM medium; or(b) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, an episode of short‑term restorative care had commenced but had not been completed—HM transitional

Individuals approved under section 22‑1 of the old Act as recipients of flexible care in the form of transition care

(4) For the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(c) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies, the classification level taken to be established for each of the individuals in the class under subsection 78(1) of the new Act at the transition time for the classification type specified in column 1 of an item of the following table for the service group specified in column 2 of the table item that those individuals are taken to be approved for under subitem 2(1) of that Schedule is the classification level specified in column 3 of the table item.

Classification levels—flexible care in the form of transition care
Item Column 1 Classification type Column 2 Service group Column 3 Classification level
1 Hospital transition Home support HS HT class
2 Hospital transition Assistive technology AT HT class

Individuals accessing, or to access, flexible care provided in a community setting through a multi‑purpose service

(5) For the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(d) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies:

Classification levels and priority categories—flexible care provided in a community setting through a multi‑purpose service
Item Column 1 Classification type Column 2 Service group Column 3 Classification level Column 4 Circumstances—priority category Column 5 Priority category
1 Ongoing Home support HSO MPSP The individual is not taken to have a priority category under item 1 of the table in subsection (2) or item 1 of the table in subsection (7) Standard
2 Short‑term Home support HSST MPSP Not applicable Not applicable
3 Short‑term Assistive technology AT transitional All circumstances Immediate
4 Short‑term Home modifications HM transitional All circumstances Immediate

Individuals assessed as eligible for Commonwealth Home Support Programme services

(6) For the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(e) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies:

Classification levels and priority categories—Commonwealth Home Support Programme services
Item Column 1 Classification type Column 2 Service group Column 3 Classification level Column 4 Circumstances—priority category Column 5 Priority category
1 Ongoing Home support CHSP transitional Not applicable Not applicable
2 Short‑term Assistive technology AT CHSP All circumstances Immediate
3 Short‑term Home modifications HM CHSP All circumstances Immediate

Individuals who had accessed services under the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program

(7) For the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(f) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies:

Classification levels and priority categories—National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program
Item Column 1 Classification type Column 2 Service group Column 3 Classification level Column 4 Circumstances—priority category Column 5 Priority category
1 Ongoing Home support HSO NATSIFACP The individual is not taken to have a priority category under item 1 of the table in subsection (2) Urgent
2 Short‑term Home support HSST NATSIFACP Not applicable Not applicable
3 Short‑term Assistive technology AT transitional All circumstances Immediate
4 Short‑term Home modifications HM transitional All circumstances Immediate

6 Service group residential care

For the purposes of subitem 4(2) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act, for a class of individuals to whom subitem 3(2) of that Schedule applies specified in column 1 of an item of the following table:

(a) the classification level taken to be established for each of the individuals in the class under subsection 78(1) of the new Act at the transition time for the classification type specified in column 2 of the table item for the service group residential care that those individuals are taken to be approved for under subitem 3(1) of that Schedule is the classification level specified in column 3 of the table item; and

(b) in all circumstances, a place is taken to have been allocated under subsection 92(1) of the new Act at the transition time to each of those individuals for the classification type for the service group.

Classification levels—service group residential care
Item Column 1 Class of individuals Column 2 Classification type Column 3 Classification level
1 Individuals to whom paragraph 3(2)(a) or (c) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies Ongoing (a) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, a classification for non‑respite care was not in effect—class 0; or(b) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, a classification for non‑respite care was in effect—the class with the corresponding number
2 Individuals to whom paragraph 3(2)(b) or (c) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies Short‑term (a) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, a classification for respite care was not in effect—respite class 0; or(b) for an individual for whom, as at immediately before the transition time, a classification for respite care was in effect—the respite class with the corresponding number
3 Individuals to whom paragraph 3(2)(d) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies Hospital transition RC HT class
4 Individuals to whom paragraph 3(2)(e) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies Ongoing (a) for an individual referred to in subparagraph 3(2)(e)(i) or (ii) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act—RCO MPSP; or(b) for an individual referred to in subparagraph 3(2)(e)(iii) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act—RCO NATSIFACP
5 Individuals to whom paragraph 3(2)(e) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies Short‑term (a) for an individual referred to in subparagraph 3(2)(e)(i) or (ii) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act—RCST MPSP; or(b) for an individual referred to in subparagraph 3(2)(e)(iii) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act—RCST NATSIFACP

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Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025

I, Blair Comley PSM, System Governor, make the following determination.

Dated 29 October 2025

Blair Comley PSM

System Governor

Contents

1 Name

2 Commencement

3 Authority

4 Definitions

5 Service groups home support, assistive technology and home modifications

6 Service group residential care

1 Name

This instrument is the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025.

2 Commencement

Commencement information
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Provisions Commencement Date/Details
1. The whole of this instrument At the same time as the Aged Care Act 2024 commences. 1 November 2025

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

3 Authority

This instrument is made under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024.

4 Definitions

(1) In this instrument:

CTP Act means the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024.

CTP Rules means the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Rules 2025.

(2) An expression used in a provision of this instrument and defined in subitem 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act has the same meaning in that provision as it has in that Schedule.

Note: The following expressions used in this instrument are defined in subitem 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act:

The Determination rests on a small set of recurring technical concepts and cross‑references. Understanding those is necessary to apply the tables and legal deeming.

Transition time and legal anchors

The instrument is a transitional instrument made under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act (section 3). It is intended to operate at the transition time from the old law to the new law. The Determination itself does not define "transition time" within its text, but it adopts the meaning provided in subitem 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act for any expressions defined there; section 4(2) of the Determination makes that cross-reference explicit. The Determination also ties its commencement to the commencement of the Aged Care Act 2024 (section 2).

Deeming of classification levels, priority categories and place allocations

The instrument repeatedly uses the language "the classification level taken to be established for each of the individuals in the class under subsection 78(1) of the new Act at the transition time", and similar language for priority categories under subsection 86(1) and place allocations under subsection 92(1) (see s5(2)(a)-(c) and s6(a)-(b)). Those references are to provisions in the new Act; the Determination creates a statutory fiction that, for the listed cohorts, the specified classification/priority/place exists in the new system at the transition time.

Service groups and classification types

The Determination repeatedly distinguishes among the service groups "home support", "assistive technology", "home modifications", and "residential care" (sections 5 and 6). Within those service groups the Determination specifies classification types such as "Ongoing", "Short‑term", "Hospital transition", and further new-act classification labels such as "HCP class 1", "AT transitional", "HM transitional", "STRC class", "HSO MPSP", "HS ST MPSP" and so on. These labels are the new regime's classification vocabulary; the Determination maps old-law statuses or program categories onto those labels.

Classes of individuals under Schedule 2 to the CTP Act

The cohorts covered in the Determination are framed by reference to particular paragraphs of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act, for example "the class of individuals to whom paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act applies" (s5(2)). Those paragraphs in Schedule 2 will identify the persons who, by virtue of existing approvals, assessments or program participation under the old law, require transitional treatment. The Determination uses those cross-references as its input population.

Circumstances-based rules

Many table entries in sections 5 and 6 condition the mapping on facts "as at immediately before the transition time". For instance, the ongoing home support mapping uses whether the individual's approval was limited to level 1, 2, 3 or 4 under the old Act, or whether the person was a "prioritised home care recipient", and distinguishes whether they had entered a home care service or not (s5(2) table item 1). Other entries specify that "all circumstances" entitle the person to an allocation. Several mappings rely on other instruments, notably the CTP Rules: the Determination instructs that for medium-priority cases the priority category is "the priority category established for the individual under section 27 of the CTP Rules" (s5(2) item 1 column 5).

Interaction of old-law meanings and new-law meanings

Section 4(3) and (4) govern how expressions used in the Determination are to be read: if an expression is used in the Determination and in the new law, it takes the new-law meaning; if it is used in the Determination and in the old law, it takes the old-law meaning but only to the extent the reference relates to an event or state of affairs under the old law before the transition time, or where the Determination preserves an old-law provision despite repeal. This mechanism is important when applying terms that existed under both regimes.

Programs and special cohorts

The Determination expressly maps Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) recipients, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFACP) participants, multi-purpose service participants, and recipients of flexible care (short‑term restorative care and transition care) into new classification labels. Examples include: CHSP transitional for ongoing home support under CHSP (s5(6) item 1), AT CHSP and HM CHSP for short‑term assistive technology and home modifications under CHSP (s5(6) items 2-3), and RCO MPSP or RCO NATSIFACP for residential care ongoing where appropriate (s6 item 4).

Deeming of allocations versus assignment

The Determination does two related but conceptually distinct things. It "takes to be established" classification levels under subsection 78(1) of the new Act, it "takes to have been assigned" priority categories under subsection 86(1) of the new Act (where the tables require), and it "takes to have been allocated" places under subsection 92(1) of the new Act. Practitioners should view these as administrative legal fictions intended to replicate the effects of prior approvals within the new statutory architecture at the transition time.

Practical dependency on the CTP Rules and the new Act

Several entries assume further specification by the CTP Rules or by the new Act. For example, the Determination defers to section 27 of the CTP Rules to establish the priority category for individuals whose old-law priority was "medium" (s5(2) item 1 column 5). The Determination therefore operates as part of a package of transitional instruments and primary legislation, with reference points located in the CTP Act, CTP Rules and the new Aged Care Act 2024.

The Determination affects defined cohorts of aged care recipients and the administrative systems that manage classification, priority and place allocations. It does not purport to change entitlements in an ad hoc way; rather, it specifies how pre‑existing approvals and assessments under the old law map into the initial state of affairs under the new law at the transition time. The principal affected parties are:

Individuals who were approved recipients under the old Act:

Persons approved under section 22‑1 of the old Act as recipients of home care are a defined class the Determination treats (s5(2)). That includes those with ongoing home support approvals, assistive technology approvals and home modifications approvals. The mapping depends on the levels that limited their old approvals and whether they were prioritised home care recipients, among other circumstances. The Determination therefore directly affects an identifiable set of individuals who immediately before transition had particular approved levels or program statuses under the old Act.

Individuals in flexible care programs:

Those approved under section 22‑1 of the old Act as recipients of flexible care in the form of short‑term restorative care are included (s5(3)). The Determination sets whether such persons are taken to have SAH restorative care pathway, STRC class, AT medium or AT transitional, HM medium or HM transitional, depending on whether an episode had commenced before the transition time. Those in flexible care in the form of transition care (s5(4)) are mapped to hospital transition classification levels for home support and assistive technology.

Individuals in multi‑purpose services:

Individuals accessing flexible care in a community setting through a multi‑purpose service are covered (s5(5)). The Determination assigns classification levels such as HSO MPSP, HSST MPSP, and immediate priority categories for AT transitional and HM transitional in all circumstances (s5(5) table). The Determination also states that such individuals are not taken to have a priority category under certain other table items, and in some cases are taken to have a Standard priority (s5(5) item 1 column 5).

Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) participants:

Persons assessed as eligible for CHSP services are included (s5(6)). For such persons the Determination maps to CHSP transitional for ongoing home support, and to AT CHSP and HM CHSP for short‑term assistive technology and home modifications, with immediate priority in all circumstances for the latter services (s5(6) table).

Participants in NATSIFACP:

Individuals who had accessed services under the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program are covered (s5(7)). The instrument maps them to HSO NATSIFACP for ongoing home support with an Urgent priority (in contrast to some other cohorts), STRC equivalents for short‑term home support, and immediate priority for short‑term AT and HM (s5(7) table).

Residential care recipients:

Section 6 maps classes of individuals identified by subitem 3(2) of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act into residential care classification types under the new Act (s6 table). This includes ongoing residential care, short‑term (respite) care, and hospital transition classes, and assigns place allocations in all circumstances under subsection 92(1).

Providers and administrative authorities:

Aged care providers, assessment bodies, and the agencies responsible for recording classifications and managing placements will be affected operationally because the Determination fixes classification and allocation legal statuses at the transition time. The Determination utilises the new Act’s subsections 78(1), 86(1) and 92(1) as the mechanics for establishing those statuses. Systems that generate invoices, rostering or placement lists will need to reconcile their records to the determinations.

Officials who exercise the functions of the System Governor or are responsible for implementing the CTP Rules:

The Determination was made by the System Governor (front matter and section 3). It explicitly delegates certain determinations about priority categories to the CTP Rules (see s5(2) item 1 column 5 referencing section 27 of the CTP Rules). Officials responsible for administering those rules and for ensuring accurate data transfer across the transition will be directly engaged in implementation.

Who is not made subject to new offences or penalties by this instrument:

The Determination itself contains no penalty clauses or criminal or civil offences. It operates by deeming statuses in the new statute. Any enforcement or compliance consequences that flow from those deemed statuses will follow from the substantive provisions of the new Act and other relevant legislation, not directly from this Determination.

Temporal scope and evidentiary implication:

The Determination is anchored to the precise factual state "immediately before the transition time" in many entries (for example the ongoing home support mapping in s5(2) item 1), which creates an evidentiary requirement to determine each individual’s status at that moment. Individuals, providers and assessment bodies need to be able to demonstrate how approvals, levels and participation stood at the immediately-preceding moment for the mappings to apply.

In short, the Determination affects identifiable recipients and the public administrative systems charged with implementing the transition from the old to the new aged care law. It does not on its face alter provider licensing or create new payment rules; it creates transitional legal facts about classification, priority and allocations for specific cohorts.

The Determination itself operates primarily by creating deemed legal facts at the transition time; it does not create freestanding obligations expressed as duties in the text, nor does it establish statutory rights in a vacuum beyond the new Act’s own substantive regime. Nonetheless the Determination produces specific legal effects that give rise to enforceable positions and administrative consequences under the new Act. The following are the essential duties, entitlements and administrative consequences that follow from reading the instrument with the cited new Act provisions in mind.

Deemed establishment of classification levels (legal consequence)

For each covered class of individual the Determination provides that the classification level is "taken to be established" under subsection 78(1) of the new Act at the transition time (see, for example, s5(2)(a) and s6(a)). The effect is that the new Act’s scheme of classifications begins with those established levels for those individuals. Practitioners should treat those classification levels as legal facts that will determine the application of the new Act’s processes and entitlements that are triggered by classification levels.

Deemed assignment of priority categories (legal consequence)

Where the tables specify it, the Determination provides that the priority category is "taken to have been assigned" under subsection 86(1) of the new Act at the transition time (see s5(2)(b) and other corresponding table entries). That translates to immediate priority status in the new system for those persons where the table so specifies (for example, AT transitional and HM transitional entries often carry Immediate priority in the relevant tables).

Deemed allocation of places (legal consequence)

The Determination declares that for many cohorts a place is "taken to have been allocated" under subsection 92(1) of the new Act at the transition time (see, for example, s5(2)(c), s5(3)(b) and s6(b)). This has the effect that the new system recognizes an existing allocation without recipients or providers having to reapply at the transition time, according to the instrument’s schema.

Reliance on facts immediately before the transition time (operational duty)

Several mappings depend on the factual state as at immediately before the transition time, for example whether a person was a "prioritised home care recipient", the levels of care to which an approval was limited, whether a short‑term restorative care episode had commenced or been completed, or whether a person had "entered a home care service" and not "ceased to be provided with home care through the home care service" (s5(2) item 1 columns 1 and 4; s5(3) item 1). The operational implication is a duty on agencies and providers to establish and certify those facts for each affected individual, because the tables condition the legal outcome on those facts.

Delegation to the CTP Rules for medium priorities (dependency)

The Determination refers parties to section 27 of the CTP Rules to establish priority categories for some persons (s5(2) item 1 column 5). That creates a dependency where determination of an individual’s priority may require consultation of the CTP Rules rather than being fully resolved by the Determination alone.

No new offences or civil penalties in the Determination itself (limitation)

The instrument contains no provision creating offences, penalty units, or civil sanctions. Any duties or compliance obligations that arise because an individual has been assigned a classification, priority or place will be implemented and enforced under the new Act’s substantive provisions, not by the Determination itself.

Rights by operation of the new Act

Because the Determination takes classification levels, priority categories and places to exist under the named subsections of the new Act, affected individuals will have whatever rights and entitlements attach to those classifications, priorities and allocations under the new Act. The Determination therefore functions as the legal bridge that establishes the initial positions from which rights under the new Act flow.

Administrative accuracy and record-keeping obligations (practical duty)

While not stated in mandatory language, the Determination implies an administrative duty on bodies responsible for implementation to maintain and produce records demonstrating the factual predicates "as at immediately before the transition time", including entry into home care services, the commencement or completion of short-term restorative care episodes, prioritised statuses under the old Act, and CHSP or NATSIFACP participation. This follows from the conditional nature of many table entries.

System Governor role

The instrument is made by the System Governor (opening lines and section 3). That identifies the role that exercised the authority to make the Determination, and signals who has the statutory capacity to specify such transitional mappings under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the CTP Act.

In summary, the Determination produces legal facts that generate duties and entitlements defined by the new Act. Affected agencies and providers must operationalise those deemed facts by evidencing the pre-transition factual matrix, consulting the CTP Rules where invoked, and updating administrative systems so the new Act’s obligations and entitlements take effect in accordance with the Determination’s mappings.

The Determination does not itself create offences, penalties or an enforcement regime. It operates as a transitional instrument that triggers legal statuses in the new Act; enforcement and sanctioning powers, where applicable, will be found in the Aged Care Act 2024, the CTP Act, the CTP Rules, or other applicable statutes. The Determination’s own operative text contains no penalty provisions and does not specify enforcement mechanisms. The implications for penalties and enforcement are therefore indirect and are limited to how the new Act treats the classification levels, priority categories and place allocations that the Determination declares to exist.

No penalty provisions in the Determination

The instrument contains no clause that prescribes criminal offences, civil penalties, administrative fines or pecuniary penalties. There is no express statement in the Determination of enforcement action for non-compliance with the Determination itself. The Determination effects transitions by deeming statuses under subsections of the new Act rather than by imposing new compliance obligations penalised by the Determination.

Enforcement will flow from the new Act and related instruments

Because the Determination tells the new Act to treat certain classifications, priorities and allocations as having been established, assigned or allocated at the transition time (for example, under subsections 78(1), 86(1) and 92(1) of the new Act), any contraventions of duties, or breaches of obligations that arise from those status designations will be governed by the enforcement provisions in the new Act and the CTP Act or CTP Rules. The Determination itself does not specify enforcement procedures, review rights, dispute resolution mechanisms or appeal processes; those mechanisms will be in the primary legislation and rules to which the Determination refers.

Practical enforcement risks and operational friction

The instrument’s reliance on facts "as at immediately before the transition time" (see sections 5 and 6) creates scope for factual disputes after transition. If agencies or providers fail to recognise a person’s deemed classification, priority or place allocation, the affected individual may seek review or remedial action under provisions of the new Act; such remedies, however, will not be governed by the Determination but by the new Act’s administrative review and compliance framework.

Potential audit or reconciliation activity

Administrative bodies will likely need to reconcile old law records with the new law’s classifications and allocations. While the Determination does not impose auditing or reporting penalties, organisations involved in implementation should expect oversight from departments or agencies administering the new system. Any finding that records were inaccurate could give rise to corrective action pursuant to the substantive powers in the primary legislation or rules.

No new enforcement discretions conferred by the Determination

The Determination does not, on its face, confer any new discretionary enforcement powers on officials. It does, however, create legal fictions that officials will need to apply. Officials implementing those fictions will therefore have to act consistently with the new Act and the CTP Act in any enforcement or remedial action.

In practical terms, then, the Determination is a transitional bridge leaving enforcement and penalty questions to the substantive framework of the new law and its rules. Practitioners should therefore consult the Aged Care Act 2024, the CTP Act, the CTP Rules and relevant administrative law principles to establish what enforcement pathways, sanctions and review rights will apply to circumstances created by the Determination’s mappings.

The Determination is expressly a consequential and transitional instrument made under the CTP Act, and it cross‑references the Aged Care Act 2024 (the new Act), the old Act and the CTP Rules. Its operation is therefore context-dependent: it does not stand alone but is designed to function as part of the statutory architecture created by the CTP Act and the new Act. The instrument contains multiple explicit cross-references and cross-dependencies that determine how it interacts with other laws.

Statutory basis and authority

Section 3 states the authority: "This instrument is made under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2024" (the CTP Act). The Determination is thus an exercise of a power given by that Schedule. Its legal force and allowable content are constrained by the CTP Act’s Schedule 2.

Interaction with the Aged Care Act 2024 (the new Act)

The Determination repeatedly instructs that certain classification levels, priority categories and place allocations are to be taken as established, assigned or allocated under specific subsections of the new Act (for example subsection 78(1), subsection 86(1), and subsection 92(1)) (see s5(2)(a)-(c) and s6). That means the Determination is intended to create specific starting conditions under the new Act for listed cohorts. Implementation of the Determination therefore depends on how those subsections in the new Act operate in practice; the Determination does not itself define the substantive rights associated with the classifications, priorities or place allocations.

Dependency on the old Act for antecedent facts

Section 4(4) provides that an expression used in the Determination and in the old law has the same meaning in the Determination as it had in the old law to the extent the use relates to an event or state of affairs under the old law before the transition time or where the Determination continues an old-law provision despite repeal. Thus the Determination interacts with the old Act to the extent that factual predicates (for example, levels to which an individual's approval was limited, whether someone was a prioritised home care recipient, whether a flexible care episode had commenced) require reading old-law terms as they were understood before repeal.

Relationship with the CTP Rules

The Determination defines "CTP Rules" as the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Rules 2025 (section 4(1)). It explicitly defers to the CTP Rules in at least one place: the priority category for individuals who were "medium" priority under the old Act is to be "the priority category established for the individual under section 27 of the CTP Rules" (s5(2) item 1 column 5). This shows a designed interaction in which the Determination sets high-level mappings and the CTP Rules supply detail.

Program-specific interactions

The Determination maps persons in Commonwealth Home Support Programme services, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program, multi-purpose services and flexible care streams into specific new classification types and priorities (s5(5)-(7), s5(3)-(4), s5(6)). That places the Determination in operational interplay with program rules and funding arrangements applicable to CHSP, NATSIFACP, multi-purpose service frameworks and flexible care under the old law. Any funding consequences or administrative procedures tied to those programs will need to account for the mappings.

Interaction with administrative and evidentiary law

Because the Determination conditions many of its mappings on the status "as at immediately before the transition time," administrative bodies will have to apply evidentiary principles and record-keeping standards to determine who falls into which mapping. Records under the old law will therefore be relevant to determining legal consequences in the new law, and administrative law principles (for example review and natural justice where decisions are made under the new Act) will interact with the Determination’s operation.

Non-exhaustive consequential instruments

The Determination notes that column 3 of the commencement table is not part of the instrument and may be edited in published versions (s2(2)). Practically this indicates that commencement and publication metadata may be managed separately from the legal text. The Determination is one element of a broader set of consequential and transitional measures; it anticipates a package that includes the CTP Rules and the new Act itself.

No express displacement of other laws

The Determination does not purport to displace unrelated statutes, nor does it purport to alter private contractual obligations between providers and recipients. Where other laws or contractual terms refer to an individual's classification, priority or place allocation, the legal quality of the Determination as an instrument under the CTP Act will determine whether such references are read to include the deemed facts; that analysis will require looking to the new Act and any conflict rules.

In short, the Determination is a piece of the statutory transition architecture linking the old Act, the CTP Act and its Rules, and the new Aged Care Act 2024. It prescribes how pre-transition facts are to be translated into the new statutory vocabulary and thereby governs the initial interactions between individuals, providers and the administrative machinery of the new law.

The Determination contains limited metadata about its own amendment status. The instrument includes a commencement table and an associated note which makes a specific statement about amendment history: the commencement table is said to relate only to the provisions "as originally made" and that it will not be amended in this instrument to deal with later amendments (section 2(1) and the subsequent note). There is no further material in the text indicating subsequent amendments, repeals or prior versions. Relevant points are:

Original making and date

The Determination is dated 29 October 2025 and signed by Blair Comley PSM in his capacity as System Governor (front matter). Section 1 confirms the name of the instrument as the Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025.

Commencement entry and non-amendment note

Section 2 contains a commencement table that shows "The whole of this instrument" commences "At the same time as the Aged Care Act 2024 commences", with a commencement date of 1 November 2025 in column 3 of the table. Immediately following the commencement table, the Determination includes a note: "This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument." That indicates that, at least in the published instrument, the commencement metadata should not be read as a record of subsequent amendment chronology.

No recorded amendments in the text provided

The instrument text as supplied contains no amending provisions, no history or edition table beyond the commencement note, and no schedule or clause that explicitly revokes or replaces prior determinations. There are no marginal notes or footnotes within the supplied text indicating amendments, and no "repeal" clause.

Interaction with rules and statutes that may be amended separately

The Determination relies on external instruments (the CTP Rules and the Aged Care Act 2024), each of which may themselves be amended later. The Determination’s mappings reference definitions under Schedule 2 to the CTP Act and defer to section 27 of the CTP Rules for particular priority assignments. Amendments to those instruments would therefore change the interpretive context in which the Determination operates; however, the Determination itself gives no indication of any planned amendment pathway.

Practical implication for practitioners

Because the Determination binds by reference to external definitions and rules, practitioners should monitor amendments to the CTP Act Schedule 2, the CTP Rules (particularly section 27), and the Aged Care Act 2024 for changes that affect how the Determination’s mappings operate. The Determination’s own stated non-amendment of the commencement table is a narrow, technical statement and does not preclude later formal amendments to the Determination itself under the authority conferred by the CTP Act, should such amendments be made.

In summary, based on the instrument text provided, this Determination appears to be the original 2025 instrument, dated 29 October 2025, and there is no textual record in the supplied material of subsequent amendments to the Determination itself. The Determination’s operation, however, is contingent on other instruments and definitions that may be subject to amendment.

The Determination text provided contains no references to litigation, court decisions, tribunal determinations, or legal challenges. It names no cases and includes no discussion of judicial interpretation. The instrument is a statutory transitional instrument made under the CTP Act; any litigation arising from its application would be recorded in external sources, but none appear in the supplied text.

What the text does state, and which may be relevant to future litigation, is:

The Determination creates deemed legal facts under subsections of the new Act (for example subsections 78(1), 86(1) and 92(1)), and thus any dispute about whether a person was properly mapped to a classification, priority category or place allocation would likely raise questions about the application of those new-act provisions and of administrative decision-making by relevant authorities.
Several mappings depend on the factual status "immediately before the transition time." Disputes are foreseeable in such cases if records are contested or if parties disagree about whether an episode had "commenced" or whether someone had "entered a home care service." The Determination itself contains no dispute resolution or review process; therefore contesting parties would need to look to the new Act, the CTP Act or administrative law avenues for challenge.

Because the instrument does not name any cases, and because the user-provided material includes no litigation history, the correct statement is that there is no litigation history contained within this Determination as supplied. Practitioners seeking cases that interpret or challenge this Determination must refer to external legal databases, tribunal reports or subsequent judicial decisions, none of which are provided here.

The Determination is compact in form but contains several detail-rich features and conditional mappings that can create traps if not understood or operationalised carefully. The principal "gotchas" are factual conditioning, dependencies on other instruments, and the potential for administrative mismatches. Practitioners should pay attention to the following concrete points.

Heavy reliance on the factual state "immediately before the transition time"

Many entries (for example s5(2) item 1) hinge on what was true "as at immediately before the transition time", such as whether the individual’s approval included particular levels, whether they were a prioritised home care recipient, or whether an episode of short-term restorative care had commenced or completed. In practice this requires precise timestamped records and clarity about the definition of "immediately before the transition time". If records are ambiguous, the mapping may be disputed. The Determination provides no tie-breaker or grace period; it conditions the legal outcome on that exact moment.

Mixed uses of "not applicable", "all circumstances", and conditional columns

The tables use language such as "Not applicable", "All circumstances", and conditional columns for place allocation or priority assignment. For example, in s5(2) item 1 column 4 the table lists particular circumstances that trigger a priority category assignment and in column 6 lists circumstances that trigger place allocation. Practitioners need to read each column and the associated conditions carefully; a row could establish a classification level without providing a priority or an allocation, depending on the circumstances.

Priority for "medium" depends on the CTP Rules (section 27)

In at least one mapping the Determination delegates medium-priority resolution to section 27 of the CTP Rules (s5(2) item 1 column 5). This means that an individual's priority may not be determinable from the Determination alone; the CTP Rules must be consulted. If the CTP Rules are not available, or are amended, that will affect the outcome.

Difference between "taken to have been assigned" and actual administrative assignment

The Determination uses statutory deeming language (for example "is taken to have been assigned", "is taken to be established", "a place is taken to have been allocated"). Administratively, an agency may still need to record the assignment or allocation in system records, and third parties may require written confirmation. The Determination creates the legal status, but does not itself produce the accompanying data entries in operational systems.

Various classification labels and abbreviations require mapping familiarity

The Determination uses a number of labels that will need to be matched to operational IT and funding codes: HCP class 1-4; HSO MPSP; HSST MPSP; AT transitional; HM transitional; SAH restorative care pathway; STRC class; RC ST MPSP; RCO NATSIFACP; RC HT class; and others. Practitioners must ensure the mapping is accurately reflected in provider and government systems so that payments, rostering and access rules apply correctly.

Allocation "in all circumstances" for some short-term categories

For short-term assistive technology and home modifications the tables frequently state "All circumstances" and "All circumstances" for place allocation, meaning a universal allocation irrespective of other facts (see s5(2) items 2-3 and multiple other rows). Those blanket allocations mean providers and assessors should not assume additional eligibility filters unless the new Act or CTP Rules impose them.

Different priority outcomes for special programs

The Determination makes special priority assignments for program cohorts. For example, NATSIFACP ongoing home support under item 1 of s5(7) is given the priority category "Urgent", whereas the comparable multi-purpose service ongoing home support is "Standard" (s5(5) item 1 column 5 and s5(7) item 1 column 5). Practitioners should watch for these program-specific priority differences when triaging placements or service scheduling.

Residential care class zero outcomes

Section 6 provides that if, immediately before the transition time, a person did not have a classification for non-respite care, they are taken to be class 0 for ongoing residential care; likewise a person without a previous respite classification is "respite class 0" for short-term residential care (s6 item 1 and item 2). Class 0 outcomes could affect fee or subsidy entitlements under the new Act; practitioners should not assume status continuity to a higher class without documentary support.

No express transitional funding or payment detail

The Determination does not address funding, subsidy rates, or fee caps. It sets classifications and allocations only. Any financial implications follow from the new Act and its rules, not from the Determination itself. Providers should therefore ensure funding rules under the new Act are consulted and that their billing systems reflect the new classification labels.

Administrative burden and data reconciliation

The Determination’s mappings imply a need for large-scale data reconciliation between old-law records and new-law classification fields. There is a practical risk of mismatches if IT systems cannot support the new classification labels, or if data quality about the precise pre-transition state is poor. Agencies and providers should prepare for significant administrative work to ensure smooth operationalisation as at the commencement date.

These "gotchas" are not legal defects in the Determination; they are operational and interpretive pitfalls that arise from the Determination’s conditional and cross-referential design. Addressing them will require careful records review, consultation of the CTP Rules and the new Act, and clear administrative processes for confirming and recording each affected individual’s mapped classification, priority and allocation.

The Determination creates a set of prescribed mappings that agencies, providers and assessors must operationalise so that the new Act’s classifications, priorities and allocations reflect the legal fictions created at the transition time. Compliance is an administrative process of evidence, recording and system change. The following practical steps, grounded in the Determination’s text, set out a minimum-compliance playbook.

Identify the affected cohorts using Schedule 2 cross-references

Use Schedule 2 to the CTP Act to identify the individuals who fall within the classes referenced in the Determination (for example the persons to whom paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 2 applies, or those in subitem 3(2) of Schedule 2). The Determination’s tables are indexed to those schedule paragraphs (see s5 and s6). Agencies should produce a master list of persons who were approved, assessed or participating under the old law and match them to the relevant schedule paragraph.

Establish each individual's factual status "immediately before the transition time"

For each identified individual, evidence must be collected to show the relevant facts "as at immediately before the transition time" (a recurring phrase in the tables,for example s5(2) item 1). This may include: level(s) of care to which approvals were limited under the old Act; whether the person was a "prioritised home care recipient"; whether a short‑term restorative care episode had commenced or been completed; whether the person had entered a home care service and had not ceased to be provided with home care through that service; and CHSP or NATSIFACP participation. Accurate timestamps and documentary proof will be necessary.

Apply the determinations in the tables to assign classification levels

Once factual predicates are established, apply the mapping tables in section 5 for home support, assistive technology and home modifications, and section 6 for residential care. For example: if an individual had an old‑Act approval limited to level 1 and was not a prioritised home care recipient, they map to HCP class 1 for ongoing home support (s5(2) item 1 column 3). Document the applied mapping for each individual.

Determine priority categories and consult the CTP Rules where required

Where the table specifies a priority category directly, record that outcome. Where the table defers to the CTP Rules,explicitly, for example, the reference in s5(2) item 1 column 5 to section 27 of the CTP Rules,consult and apply the CTP Rules to determine whether the individual's priority is "Urgent", "High", "Medium" or another category established by those rules. Keep a record of which instrument (Determination table or CTP Rule) produced each priority outcome.

Record and certify place allocations

Where the Determination states "a place is taken to have been allocated" under subsection 92(1) of the new Act, ensure the new Act’s administrative records reflect that place allocation. Even though the Determination creates the legal fact, providers and agencies should update allocation registers, electronic records and individual letters of notification to reflect that the person has an allocated place. Pay particular attention to entries that specify "All circumstances", which indicate universal allocation for the cohort.

Update IT systems and billing codes to the new classification labels

Map the new classification labels used in the Determination (for example HCP class 1-4, STRC class, AT transitional, HM transitional, HSO MPSP, RCO NATSIFACP, RC HT class and RCST MPSP) to internal IT codes and billing fields so that roster, payment, and reporting processes operate with the new vocabulary effective on the commencement date. Coordinate with central administrative IT teams to ensure consistent mapping across the system.

Notify individuals and providers

Although the Determination does not prescribe communication protocols, good administrative practice recommends notifying affected individuals and their providers of the classification, priority and place allocation that will be recognised under the new Act as at the transition time. Provide documentary evidence of the factual basis "as at immediately before the transition time" and indicate where the CTP Rules were used.

Prepare for potential disputes and retain audit trails

Given the Determination’s dependence on pre-transition facts, retain source documents to support each mapped outcome. Prepare internal processes for resolving discrepancies, including steps to escalate to the statutory review or appeal avenues set out in the new Act or the CTP Act if a person disputes their deemed classification, priority or allocation.

Coordinate with program areas for CHSP, NATSIFACP and multi‑purpose services

For cohorts coming from CHSP or NATSIFACP, or for those in multi-purpose services, apply the specific mappings in s5(5)-(7) and s5(6) and ensure program administrators reflect the appropriate transitional classes such as CHSP transitional, HSO NATSIFACP, or HSO MPSP. Funding and service-delivery arrangements tied to those program categories should be reconciled with the new classification labels.

Reconcile residential care class assignments

For residential care mappings (s6), check whether an individual had an existing classification for non-respite or respite care immediately before the transition time. If not, record the person as class 0 for ongoing or respite class 0 for short‑term, as the table requires. For persons moving from MPSP or NATSIFACP residential arrangements, apply the RCO/Rcst MPSP or RCO/RCST NATSIFACP mappings as specified.

Coordinate with the System Governor’s office and the body administering the CTP Rules

Because the instrument was made by the System Governor and ties into the CTP Rules, maintain contact points with the offices responsible for administering the Determination and the CTP Rules to obtain guidance, clarifications and any issued directions about implementation practices.

Audit and quality assurance

Conduct a post-transition audit of records to confirm the Determination’s mappings were applied consistently and in accordance with the CTP Rules and new Act provisions. Where mismatches are discovered, take corrective administrative action and document the rationale for changes.

Following these steps aligns operational practice with the Determination’s legal mappings and reduces risks of misclassification, misallocation or disputes. Practitioners should combine this checklist with reference to the Aged Care Act 2024, the CTP Act and the CTP Rules for the substantive and procedural consequences that follow from the classifications and allocations this Determination creates.

Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Determination 2025

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