Section 1 - Aged Care (Places Available for Allocation to Individuals 2025-2026) Determination 2025 - Aged Care (Places Available for Allocation to Individuals 2025-2026) Determination 2025 | Zoe
Aged Care (Places Available for Allocation to Individuals 2025-2026) Determination 2025
1Aged Care (Places Available for Allocation to Individuals 2025-2026) Determination 2025
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Aged Care (Places Available for Allocation to Individuals 2025-2026) Determination 2025
I, Sam Rae, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, make the following determination.
Dated 31 October 2025
Sam Rae
Minister for Aged Care and Seniors
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Authority
4 Definitions
5 Simplified outline of this instrument
Part 2—Home support
6 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group home support
7 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
8 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support
9 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification level SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
10 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
11 Method for working out the number of places available for the transitional classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
12 Method for working out the number of places available for all classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support
13 Method for working out the number of places available for interim places for the service group home support
14 Method for working out the number of places available for full places for the service group home support
Part 3—Assistive Technology
15 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group assistive technology
16 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification types short-term and ongoing for the service group assistive technology
17 Method for working out the number of places available for AT classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology
18 Method for working out the number of places available for classification level assistance dog for the classification type ongoing for the service group assistive technology
Part 4—Home modifications
19 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group home modifications
20 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification types short-term and ongoing for the service group home modifications
21 Method for working out the number of places available for HM classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications
Part 5—Residential care
22 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group residential care
23 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification types short-term and ongoing for the service group residential care,
24 Method for working out the number of places available for all classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group residential care
25 Method for working out the number of places available for all classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group residential care
Part 6—Miscellaneous
26 Calculations to be rounded down
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
This instrument is the Aged Care (Places Available for Allocation to Individuals 2025-2026) 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
The whole of this instrument. 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 subsection 91(1) of the Aged Care Act 2024.
4 Definitions
Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:
(a) Classification level
(b) Classification type
(c) Service group
(d) Tier amount
In this instrument:
Act means the Aged Care Act 2024.
Age-sex group means a category of persons of a specific age (in one-year increments) and sex.
approvals data means data produced by the Department for the previous financial year that specifies the number of older persons approved for residential permanent care and residential respite care by age, and sex.
average AT place cost is the number worked out as follows:
(a) calculate the sum of all tier amounts under sections 212-5 and 212-10 of the Rules applicable to individuals who have an approval in effect for the service group assistive technology under section 65 of the Act;
(b) divide the number at paragraph (a) by the number of individuals to whom that amount relates.
average HM place cost is the number worked out as follows:
(a) calculate the total of all tier amounts under section 221-5 of the Rules applicable to individuals who have an approval in effect for the service group home modifications under section 65 of the Act;
(b) divide the number at paragraph (a) by the number of individuals to whom that amount relates.
committed expenditure for a particular service group, classification type or classification level, means the amount of funding calculated by the Department to be required for all individuals who have an approval in effect under section 65 of the Act and have been allocated a place under section 92 of the Act for that service group, classification type or classification level, for the financial year, including subsidies, fee reductions and supplements related to each individual.
financial year means the 2025-2026 financial year commencing on 1 July 2025 and ending on 30 June 2026.
forecast expenditure for a period, means the Department’s estimated expenditure for the period based on committed expenditure, consideration of the wait list and forecast new approvals.
general population data means the population data in the Annual Population Statement produced by Treasury for Australians aged 65 and over and sorted by age and sex.
previous financial year means the 2024-2025 financial year commencing on 1 July 2024 and ending on 30 June 2025.
Rules means the Aged Care Rules 2025.
special appropriation means the amount of funding agreed by the Government of the Commonwealth to be allocated for the financial year to fund places in a service group, classification type or classification level as authorised by a provision within the Act.
5 Simplified outline of this instrument
This instrument is made under subsection 91(1) of the Act and provides a method for the
financial year 2025-2026 to make a point in time calculation of:
how many places remain available to be allocated to individuals for the service groups home support, residential care, assistive technology and home modification;
how many of those places for each service group are available for allocation to either the ongoing or short-term classification types; and
how many of those places for each classification type are available for allocation to a particular classification level.
For the service group home support, this instrument also provides a method for calculating
how many of the places are available for allocation as interim places or full places.
For some classification types and classification levels, the places available will be up to the
number of places available for the service group until the relevant budget is fully utilised.
This means that there is no cap on how many places are available for that classification type
or classification level, other than the number of places available for their respective service
group.
Part 2—Home support
6 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(a) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the service group home support is to calculate the sum of the available places for the following classification levels and classification types in the following order:
(a) the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support as calculated under paragraph 10(1)(d);
(b) the classification level SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support as calculated under paragraph 9(1)(b); and
(c) the classification type ongoing for the service group home support as calculated under paragraph 8(1)(c).
(2) If the number worked out at subsection (1) means that the total places available to be allocated at a time in the financial year for the service group home support would be less than the number of places required by subsection 91(6) of the Act, then the number of places available for allocation for the service group home support will be the number of places required to be available to ensure the number of places required by subsection 91(6) of the Act are available.
7 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(b) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification type short-term for the service group home support is that the number of places available is the number of places available for the service group as worked out by section 6.
8 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(b) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support is the following:
(a) subtract the following amounts from the special appropriation for the service group home support:
(i) the committed expenditure for service group home support, classification type ongoing;
(ii) the SAH restorative care pathway special appropriation; and
(iii) the committed expenditure for the SAH end-of-life pathway
(iv) the committed expenditure for the SAH restorative care pathway insofar as it relates to supplements for individuals who meet the criteria under subsections 196-15(1), 196-20(1) or 196-25(1) of the Rules.
(b) multiply the SAH place cost by the remaining days in the financial year.
(c) divide the number worked out at (a) by the number worked out at (b).
(2) The SAH place cost is:
(a) if paragraph 13(1)(a) does not apply, the number calculated by:
(i) calculating the sum of all base individual amounts under subsection 194-5(2) that apply to individuals who have been allocated a full place in the service group home support, classification type ongoing.
(ii) dividing the number in subparagraph (i) by the number of places to which that amount relates.
(b) if paragraph 13(1)(a) applies, the number calculated by following the steps in paragraph (a), divided by 60%.
9 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification level SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification level SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support is to identify the lesser of:
(a) the number of individuals who have an access approval in effect for the classification level SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support but not yet been allocated a place; or
(b) the number calculated by subtracting the committed expenditure for the service group home support from the special appropriation for home support and dividing that number by the SAH end-of life funding value.
(2) The SAH end of life funding value is the number of days for initial credit prescribed by paragraph 195-1(a) of the Rules multiplied by the base individual amount for the SAH end-of-life pathway prescribed by item 2 of subsection 194-10(2) of the Rules.
10 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support is the following:
(a) calculate the committed expenditure for the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support minus any amounts relating to supplements for individuals who meet the criteria under subsections 196-15(1), 196-20(1) or 196-25(1) of the Rules;
(b) divide the number at paragraph (a) by the restorative care funding value;
(c) subtract the number at paragraph (b) from the quarterly limit;
(d) if the number worked out at paragraph (c) is:
(i) less than 1, then there are no places available; and
(ii) more than or equal to 1, the number of places available for allocation for the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support is that number.
(2) The restorative care funding value is the maximum period of effect prescribed by section 80-55 of the rules multiplied by the base individual amount for the classification level SAH restorative care pathway for the classification type short-term for the service group home support prescribed by item 1 of subsection 194-10(2) of the Rules.
(3) The quarters and their quarterly limits are
Quarter
Quarterly limit
1 November 2025 – 31 December 2025
5,000
1 January 2026 – 31 March 2026
10,000
1 April 2026 – 30 June 2026
13,333
11 Method for working out the number of places available for the transitional classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the following classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group home support is that the number of places available is zero:
(a) STRC class;
(b) HSST NATSIFACP;
(c) HSST MPSP.
12 Method for working out the number of places available for all classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for all classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support is the following:
(a) for the classification levels SAH Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support, the number of places for each classification level is up to the number of places available for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support as worked out by section 8, allocated until such point as the special appropriation for the classification type is fully utilised; and
(b) for the following classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support, the number of places is zero:
(i) CHSP class;
(ii) HCP class 1;
(iii) HCP class 2;
(iv) HCP class 3;
(v) HCP class 4;
(vi) CHSP transitional;
(vii) HSO NATSIFACP; and
(viii) HSO MPSP;
13 Method for working out the number of places available for interim places for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(d) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for interim places for all classification levels for the classification types ongoing and short-term for the service group home support in this part is that:
(a) if the forecast expenditure exceeds the special appropriation for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support, 100 % of places available for allocation for classification levels SAH Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the classification type ongoing for the service group home support are available to be interim places; and
(b) 0 % of places available for allocation for the classification levels SAH restorative care pathway and SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short term for the service group home support are available to be interim places.
14 Method for working out the number of places available for full places for the service group home support
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(d) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for full places for all classification levels for the classification types ongoing and short-term for the service group home support in this part is that:
(a) if the forecast expenditure does not exceed the special appropriation for the classification type ongoing for the service group home support, 100 % of places available for allocation for the classification levels SAH Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 for classification type ongoing for the service group home support are available to be full places.
(b) 100% of places available for allocation for the classification levels SAH restorative care pathway and SAH end-of-life pathway for the classification type short-term, are available to be full places.
Part 3—Assistive Technology
15 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group assistive technology
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(a) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for service group assistive technology is the following:
(a) calculate the sum of the committed expenditure for the service groups home modifications and assistive technology;
(b) subtract the amount at (a) from the special appropriation for the service groups home modifications and assistive technology;
(c) if the sum at (a) was:
(i) zero, divide the number at paragraph (b) by 2 and then divide that number by the value of the tier amount for classification level AT Medium for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology;
(ii) more than zero:
(A) calculate the AT proportion in accordance with subsection (2); and
(B) divide the number at (A) by the average AT place cost.
(2) The AT proportion is the number calculated by:
(a) calculating the sum of the average AT place cost and the average HM place cost;
(b) dividing the number at paragraph (1)(b) by the number at paragraph (2)(a); and
(c) multiplying the number at paragraph (2)(b) by the average AT place cost.
16 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification types short-term and ongoing for the service group assistive technology
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(b) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification types short-term and ongoing for the service group assistive technology, is that the number of places available is the number of places available for the service group as worked out by section 15.
17 Method for working out the number of places available for AT classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology is that:
(a) for the classification levels AT low, AT medium and AT high for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology, the number of places available is the number of places available for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology as worked out by section 16, allocated until such point as the special appropriation for the service groups assistive technology and home modifications is fully utilised; and
(b) for the classification levels AT CHSP and AT transitional for the classification type short-term for the service group assistive technology, the number of places available is zero.
18 Method for working out the number of places available for classification level assistance dog for the classification type ongoing for the service group assistive technology
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification level assistance dogs for the classification type ongoing for the service group assistive technology, is that the number of places available is the number of places available for the classification type ongoing for the service group assistive technology as worked out by section 16, allocated until such point as the special appropriation for the service groups assistive technology and home modifications is fully utilised.
Part 4—Home modifications
19 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group home modifications
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(a) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for service group home modifications is the following:
(a) calculate the sum of the committed expenditure for the service groups home modifications and assistive technology;
(b) subtract the amount at (a) from the special appropriation for the service groups assistive technology and home modifications;
(c) if the sum at (a) was:
(i) zero, divide the number at (b) by 2 and then divide that number by the value of the tier amount for the classification level HM Medium for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications; and
(ii) more than zero:
(A) calculate the HM proportion in accordance with subsection (2); and
(B) divide the number at (A) by the average HM place cost.
(2) The HM proportion is the number calculated by:
(a) calculating the sum of the average AT place cost and the average HM place cost;
(b) dividing the number at paragraph (1)(b) by the number at paragraph (2)(a); and
(c) multiplying the number at paragraph (2)(b) by the average HM place cost.
20 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(b) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications is that:
(a) for the classification type short-term, the number of places available is 100% of the number calculated at paragraph 19(1)(d).
(b) for the classification type ongoing, the number of places available is 0% of the number calculated at paragraph 19(1)(d).
21 Method for working out the number of places available for HM classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications is that:
(a) for the classification levels HM low, HM medium and HM high for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications, the number of places available is the number of places available to be allocated for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications as worked out by section 20, allocated until such point as the special appropriation for the service groups assistive technology and home modifications is fully utilised; and
(b) for the classification levels HM CHSP and HM transitional for the classification type short-term for the service group home modifications, zero.
Part 5—Residential care
22 Method for working out the number of places available for the service group residential care
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(a) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the service group residential care is the following:
(a) calculate the percentage approval rate for each age-sex group for the ages 65 to 100 for the previous financial year by:
(i) dividing the number of people approved in the age-sex group according to the approvals data by the number of people in the same age-sex group according to the general population data for the previous financial year; and
(ii) multiplying that number by 100;
Example: If 250 females aged 80 were approved and there are 10,000 females aged 80 in the population, the approval rate is 2.5% (250 divided by 10,000 multiplied by 100) for the age-sex group 80 year old females.
(b) calculate the projected number of places for each age-sex group for the ages 65 to 100 for the financial year by multiplying the percentage approval rate calculated at paragraph (a) by the general population data for the financial year for the same age-sex group;
Example: If the approval rate is 2.5% for the age-sex group 80 year old females and there are 12,000 females aged 80 in the population this financial year, the projected number of places for the age-sex group 80 year old females is 300 (2.5% multiplied by 12,000).
(c) sum the projected number of places for each age-sex group;
(d) subtract the number of places that have already been allocated this financial year.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (a):
(a) all males aged 100 or over will form part of the age-sex group for 100 year old males; and
(b) all females aged 100 or over will form part of the age-sex group for 100 year old females.
23 Method for working out the number of places available for the classification types short-term and ongoing for the service group residential care,
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(b) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification types ongoing and short-term for the service group residential care is that the number of places available is the number of places available for the service group as worked out by section 22 allocated until such point as the special appropriation for the service group residential care is fully utilised.
24 Method for working out the number of places available for all classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group residential care
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification levels for the classification type short-term for the service group residential care, is the following:
(a) for classification levels Respite classes 0, 1, 2, and 3 for the classification type short-term for the service group residential care, the number of places available is the number of places available for the classification type short-term for the service group residential care as worked out by section 23, allocated until such point as the special appropriation for the service group residential care is fully utilised; and
(b) for the classification levels RCST MPSP and RCST NATSIFACP for the classification type short-term for the service group residential care, the number of places available is zero.
25 Method for working out the number of places available for all classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group residential care
For the purposes of paragraph 91(1)(c) of the Act, the method for working out the number of places available to be allocated to individuals at a time in the financial year for the classification levels for the classification type ongoing for the service group residential care is the following:
(a) for the classification levels classes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 for the classification type ongoing for the service group residential care, the number of places for each classification type is up to the number of places available for the classification type for the service group residential care as worked out by section 23, allocated until such point as the special appropriation for residential care is fully utilised; and
(b) for the classification levels RCO MPSP and RCO NATSIFACP for the classification type ongoing for the service group residential care, the number of places available is zero.
Part 6—Miscellaneous
26 Calculations to be rounded down
Where a method of calculating the number of places available for allocation for a service group, classification type or classification level produces a number that is not a whole number, it must be rounded down to the nearest whole number.