And 13,000 more will be delivered by 31 October, as the Department scrambles to reassure anxious providers that their ‘best endeavours’ will be acknowledged.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has confirmed it has released 6665 of the promised 20,000 new home care packages since the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Act received Royal Assent on 19 September.
Sonja Stewart, deputy secretary of the DoHDA, told the Ageing Australia national conference on the Gold Coast this morning that 3333 new packages would be released each week until the 1 November implementation of the new Aged Care Act.
The commitment was the price the federal government paid for Coalition and crossbench agreement to pass the ACOLA bill back on 4 September.
A further 63,000 new home care packages will be released to the aged care provider sector by 30 June 2026, Ms Stewart confirmed.
She also addressed continuing anxiety within the sector about the looming 1 November deadline.
“I also understand that there’s a lot of interest and speculation and sometimes mythology about the government’s readiness, the department’s readiness, Services Australia’s readiness,” she said.
“I have a quite a unique role. I’m the senior responsible officer, so I am the one person who makes those decisions about Go or No-Go, and gives advice to government, who makes decisions about how we’re progressing and about where we lean in and where we don’t.
“So, this is from me to you, and from my counterpart in Services Australia.
“Both the Department and Services Australia have completed the IT builds and support that we need for 1 November, and we are seeing high pass rates through our robust testing processes.
“We’ve got a system. We test it, we check the pass rate, we adjust if we need to, and we keep going.
“Services Australia has successfully deployed the early means testing capability yesterday, 1 October and that puts our agencies and the sector and most importantly, older people, as ready as we can be for the first of November.”
Ms Stewart said the Department acknowledged that transitioning from a “big, old system” to a “big, new system” was complex and challenging.
“The Department’s key priority is to ensure a smooth transition with no disruption of service,” she said.
“The new Aged Care Act will create a better regulated and more transparent and accountable system, and this is critical if we’re finally going to put the rights and the needs of older people at the heart of everything that we do.”
Unusually for a Department bureaucrat Ms Stewart, to her credit, took questions from the audience of aged care providers, some of which were less friendly than she might have anticipated.
One home care provider questioned how they were expected to talk to clients about care plans and budgets without contributions information from the Department.
“From yesterday [1 October] there are a couple of important things happening,” replied Ms Stewart.
“People are getting their letters for those that want to understand what their contribution could look like. People could also go on to our website, which has a fee estimator, so that’s been available.
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“Service agreements need to be in place for services to be delivered. However, we understand that this is a big transformation from an old system to a new system.
“[This] is about best endeavours and ensuring that those services are delivered, and that we are sensible about an approach from an old to a new system.
“We acknowledge that everything can’t happen on the one day. There has to be a transition period. There has to be a small period of adjustment. And we acknowledge that.
“We’re sensible, practical people, and those [providers] that are using best endeavours, we understand that, and we will acknowledge that.”
One consumer with lived experience of the aged care system chided the deputy secretary for a lack of genuine consultation with consumers.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric around consulting with the people with lived experience, but very little talking actually with us,” she said.
“There’s a lot of talking to us, a lot of talking at us, and a lot of representation that filters what we say. We would like more opportunity to talk more directly with the government and to share our lived experience.
“If you’re genuine about us being at the centre of services – and we don’t quite find that yet, because it’s a change in the way people think about providing services to people on the ground – give us the opportunity to talk with the government on a face-to-face level, rather than through webinars that just provide information and three people asking questions.”
Ms Stewart, who is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman, said it was “in her DNA” to respect her elders.
“I’m one person, but I set the tone. I set the culture, and I don’t shy away from that,” she said.
“We need to be, of course, listening more, and I’ll take that on board.
“One of the things we’re going to do is ensure evaluation of this huge system, these huge reforms, putting older people at the heart of what we’re doing.
“And that’s where we need to be, listening very deeply.”
Meanwhile the Senate inquiry into aged care delivery released its final report, including a list of 11 recommendations.
Apart from the recommendations already being implemented about the release of home care packages before 30 June 2026, the committee’s big asks included:
- the Senate refer to the Community Affairs References Committee the following matter for inquiry and report by the first sitting week of August 2026: (a) the timeline for the transition of the Community Home Support Programme to the Support at Home Program after 1 July 2027; and (b) the expected impact of this transition including on waiting periods for assessment and receipt of care; the lifetime cap of $15,000 on home modifications; and the End-of-Life Pathway time limits;
- the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing publish real-time information on both the waiting period for assessment and receipt of a home care service package; and review communication strategies to ensure that older people remain engaged with seeking assistance;
- the Inspector-General of Aged Care to consider conducting an urgent review into the operation of the Single Assessment System;
- the Senate refer, to the Community Affairs References Committee, for inquiry and report by 15 April 2026, the expected impact of the Support at Home Program model on: (a) older Australians’ dignity, health, safety and access to care; and (b) the residential aged care system, and hospitals;
- the Australian government should consider the adequacy of daily living supports delivered through the at-home aged care system for older Australians living with a disability, in comparison with those delivered through the National Disability Insurance Scheme;
- the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, in consultation with allied health professionals, undertake an urgent review of the list of inclusions for the AT-HM scheme;
- the Australian government provides aged care service providers with a schedule for the release of places under the Home Care Packages Program and the Support at Home Program, which includes details on the volume of places, the timing of their release, and their geographical locations.
The Ageing Australia national conference was held on the Gold Coast from 30 September to 2 October.