The new Aged Care Act commenced on 1 November 2025 as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to creating a simpler, fairer and more respectful aged-care system.
The new Act puts older people – including veterans and their families – at the heart of aged care. It strengthens rights, improves the quality and safety of care, and makes it easier to understand and access the support available.
If you are an existing provider of aged care services nothing will change the way you deliver DVA funded care and support services to eligible veterans and war-widowed partners to help them live independently, safely and comfortably at home or in residential aged care.
What has changed
- All providers delivering aged care services in Australia must now be registered with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
- The new Act introduces a Statement of Rights for everyone receiving government-funded aged-care services, ensuring dignity, choice and respect are built into every level of care.
- Introduction of a new Support at Home program to support older Australia to access coordinated care to meet their assessed needs. The new program provides 8 separate classifications for ongoing care and three short-term support classifications for restorative care, end-of-life and assistive technology and home modifications. The program replaces the Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care programs.
- Better protection and support for people who disclose potential non-compliance to create a safer and more transparent aged care system.
- New residents entering aged care will see updates to the way costs and government contributions are assessed, to make the system more sustainable.
- DVA clients will mainly notice updated reporting requirements and adjusted rates under the new Act, rather than major changes to how they receive support.
Veterans and their families can continue to access both DVA and government funded services, but not for the same service at the same time.
Where to get more information
For broader information on the new Act, visit the My Aged Care website.
For DVA-specific information for aged care providers, visit our Aged care provider resources webpage.