Residential aged care
The Australian aged care system provides subsidised care and support, through a range of services, to people who can no longer live without assistance.
Following the recent passage of the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Bill 2022, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) took on the role of providing costing and pricing advice on aged care as it is renamed from the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA).
IHPA’s transition to IHACPA occurred on 12 August 2022.
IHACPA’s expanded role in providing independent aged care costing and pricing advice aims to ensure that Government aged care funding is directly informed by the actual costs of delivering care.
To support this, IHACPA will undertake regular costing studies, consider other available cost and activity data such as the Aged Care Financial Report and Quarterly Financial Report data, and seek input from stakeholders through annual public consultation and advisory committees.
IHACPA engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake a Residential Aged Care Costing Pilot Study to understand, collect, and analyse cost and activity data. The recommendations outlined in the Residential Aged Care Costing Pilot Study Report are intended to inform the subsequent broader Residential Aged Care Costing Study.
IHACPA’s advice will inform Government decisions on the pricing and funding of residential aged care and respite care using the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) from 1 July 2023.