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Snapshot

  • The Aged Care Bill 2024 (Cth) will come into force this year and comprehensively reforms Australia’s aged care system.
  • It signifies a new person-centred and care-centred approach and seeks to protect individual rights and autonomy.
  • This article focuses on practical issues and common questions lawyers may encounter.

The Aged Care Bill 2024 (Cth) (the ‘Bill’ or ‘Act’) was passed by the Federal Parliament on 2 December 2024 and will come into force on 1 July 2025. The Act represents a significant overhaul of Australia’s aged care system and introduces critical reforms aimed at improving the quality, accessibility and sustainability of aged care services across Australia and to make the consumer the focus.

The Act repeals:

  • the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) (referred to in the Act as the ‘old Act’) (‘old Act’);
  • the Aged Care (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 (Cth); and
  • the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018 (Cth).

The Act consolidates the legislative structure that administered the funded aged care system, including the old Act and legislative instruments referred to as Principles. The definitions and provisions from the old Act are preserved in the Act and as a result, practitioners need to be conscious of the concepts from the old Act.

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