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Almost 10,000 New Residential Aged Care Places Announced

on Friday, May 26, 2017

The Australian Government has announced funding to give almost 10,000 more older Australians access to residential aged care services.

The Federal Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt, said today that the government is providing an additional $649 million per year to create 9911 new residential aged care places in the 2016-17 Aged Care Approvals Round.

“As people grow older they increasingly want flexibility in the services they receive and how and when they access them,” Minister Wyatt said.

“Australians want greater choice and control over their care and this investment does exactly that.” 

Visiting AdventCare Whitehorse in Melbourne’s Nunawading, Minister Wyatt said the additional funding will benefit thousands of older Australians across Australia considering a move to residential aged care. 

“With our rapidly ageing population, the Australian Government is committed to providing a sustainable aged care system that meets the needs of our older Australians,” he said.

“Three quarters of these residential places are being provided to the development of new aged care services, the remainder will enable existing aged care providers to expand their current facilities. 

“For example, AdventCare Whitehorse is located in an area of identified high need for aged care and will use its new places received in the ACAR to establish a new dementia specific unit,” Minister Wyatt said.

“People living in rural, regional and remote Australia will also benefit with 2719 residential places being offered for services outside metropolitan areas.

“The Australian Government is also investing an additional $64 million in capital grants across the nation to help approved providers establish new services or upgrade existing facilities. Over $57.6 million of this has been approved for non-metropolitan located services.”

This announcement follows the one made in February which allocated 475 Short-Term Restorative Care places also through the 2016-17 Aged Care Approvals Round. 

These Short-Term Restorative Care places, worth an estimated total additional expenditure of up to $34.7 million a year, provide flexible aged care options that will help older people remain in their own homes for longer after injury or illness.

“The Turnbull government is committed to providing Australians with the best possible aged care with an estimate of $18.6 billion to be spent on aged care in 2017-18, rising to $22.3 billion in 2020-21.”

Information about the 2016?17 Aged Care Approvals Round outcomes, including details of the successful approved providers, is available on the Department of Health's website.

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