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Spending on aged care

The aged care system offers a continuum of care under 3 main types of service:

  • Commonwealth Home Support Program (home support) provides entry-level services focused on supporting individuals to undertake tasks of daily living to enable them to be more independent at home and in the community.
  • Home Care Packages Program (home care) is a more structured, comprehensive package of home-based support, provided over 4 levels.
  • Residential aged care (permanent residential care) provides 24-hour care and accommodation for older people who are unable to continue living independently in their own home and need assistance with everyday tasks.

There are also several types of short-term or flexible care, and services for specific population groups available that extend across the spectrum from home support to residential care, including:

  • Residential respite care (or respite residential care) provides short-term care in an aged care home with the primary purpose of giving an individual or their carer a break from their usual care arrangements.
  • Transition Care Program (transition care) provides short-term care to restore independent living after a hospital stay.
  • Short-Term Restorative Care Programme (short-term restorative care) expands on transition care to include anyone whose capacity to live independently is at risk.
  • Multi-Purpose Service Program offers aged care alongside health services in rural and remote areas.
  • Innovative Care Programme includes a range of programs to support flexible ways of providing care to target population groups.
  • National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program provides culturally appropriate aged care at home and in the community for First Nations people.
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs community nursing and Veterans’ Home Care services provide support to help eligible veterans stay independent and in their own home.

From 1 November 2025, the new Support at Home program replaced the Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. The Commonwealth Home Support Program will transition to Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027.

For more information on aged care services in Australia see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

New Aged Care Act

This page presents data for the 2024–25 financial year, before the Aged Care Act 2024 came into effect on 1 November 2025. Changes since the commencement of the new Act and the beginning of the Support at Home program, alongside a new regulatory model, will be reported when data become available. For more information on the new Act, see New Aged Care Act on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

Allocation of government expenditure

Governments fund different types of aged care services and support programs. Government expenditure refers to the total spending from the Australian Government and state and territory governments. The majority of government expenditure (99%) on aged care comes from the Australian Government.

Note, the terms of ‘spending’ and ‘expenditure’ are used interchangeably on this page. 

In 2024–25 (based on Report on Government Services 2026: Part F, Section 14, Aged care services):

  • Governments spent $39.8 billion on aged care services, with the largest proportion (61%) spent on residential care services. The remaining funds were spent on home care and support services (32%), flexible care services (3.0%) and other aged care services, including workforce and service improvement, and assessment and information services (3.7%).
  • The $24.2 billion expenditure on residential care services was almost double the amount spent on home care and support services ($12.9 billion) – comprised of $3.3 billion on home support (Commonwealth Home Support Program), $8.7 billion on home care (Home Care Packages Program), $0.5 billion on other home care and support, and $0.4 billion on other community care services, which includes the Department of Veterans’ Affairs community nursing and Veterans’ Home Care (VHC) programs.

Figure 1: Government expenditure on aged care services, 2024–25

*Includes Assessment and Information Services, Workforce and Quality, and Ageing and Service Improvement, and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Note: Due to differences in methods, counts may differ slightly to those published in the Aged Care Data Snapshot and Report on the Operations of the Aged Care Act 1997. 
Source: Report on Government Services 2026: Part F, Section 14, Aged care services report. 
https://www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/

Government expenditure by states and territories

Government expenditure on aged care services for people in the target population varies across the states and territories where these services are delivered. Government expenditure refers to the total spending from the Australian Government and state and territory governments. In this section, the aged care target population refers to all people aged 65 and over and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people aged 50–64.

In 2024–25 (based on Report on Government Services 2026: Part F, Section 14, Aged care services):

  • government expenditure on residential and flexible care services per person in target population was highest in South Australia ($5,500 per person) and lowest in Australian Capital Territory ($4,200 per person)
  • government expenditure on home care and support services per person in target population was highest in South Australia ($3,000 per person) and lowest in Northern Territory ($2,000 per person).

Figure 2: Government expenditure on aged care services per person in target population by states and territories, 2024–25

*Includes Workforce and Quality, and Ageing and Service Improvement, and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
**The Australian totals can include other expenditure that cannot be attributed to individual states or territories. 

Notes: 

  1. Target population is all people aged 65 and over and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50–64. Population estimates numbers are taken from the Estimated Resident Population projections. 
  2. Due to differences in methods, counts may differ slightly to those published in the Aged Care Data Snapshot and Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997. 

Source: Report on Government Services 2026: Part F, Section 14, Aged care services report.
https://www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/

Government expenditure over time

A number of aged care reforms and changes were implemented between 2015 and 2017. This includes introduction of the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme, rollout and expansion of the Commonwealth Home Support Program, and changes to the Home Care Packages Program.

To improve comparability, we only report trend data for expenditure between 2017–18 and 2024–25 (where data are available).

Aged care spending patterns, and spending per person in target population, have changed during the reporting period. Government expenditure refers to the total spending from the Australian Government and state and territory governments, and time series expenditure data have been adjusted for inflation. In this section, the aged care target population refers to all people aged 65 and over and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people aged 50–64.

Between 2017–18 and 2024–25 (based on Report on Government Services 2026: Part F, Section 14, Aged care services):

  • total government expenditure (for all aged care services) increased by 73% (from $22.9 billion to $39.8 billion), while the expenditure per person in target population increased by 39% (from $5,700 to $7,900 per person)
  • government expenditure on residential and flexible care services increased by 56% (from $16.3 billion to $25.4 billion), and the expenditure per person in target population increased by 25% (from $4,000 to $5,000 per person)
  • government expenditure on home care and support services more than doubled from $6.3 billion to $12.9 billion (an 106% increase), and the expenditure per person in target population increased by 65% (from $1,600 to $2,600 per person).

Figure 3: Government expenditure on aged care services, 2017–18 to 2024–25

Measure

*Includes Workforce and Quality, and Ageing and Service Improvement and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Source: Report on Government Services 2026: Part F, Section 14, Aged care services report. 
https://www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/

Care recipient contributions

Most people using aged care contribute to the cost of their care. The level of contribution is subject to an assessment of affordability. Information on the share of aged care provider revenue from care recipient contributions in this section is sourced from the Financial Report on the Australian Aged Care Sector.

In 2024–25:

  • home care recipients contributed $191 million to the cost of their care, accounting for 2.2% of the total revenue received by home care providers
  • residential care recipients contributed $7.3 billion to the cost of their care, representing 21% of the total revenue received by residential care providers.

Between 2017–18 and 2024–25:

  • contributions from home care recipients decreased by 21% (from $122 million to $96 million) between 2017–18 and 2020–21, and then increased sharply in the following 3 years to 2023–24 (more than doubled from $96 million to $207 million). Between 2023–24 and 2024–25, the contributions declined by 7.5% (from $207 million to $191 million)
  • contributions from residential care recipients have increased by 63% from $4.5 billion to $7.3 billion, with the largest increase occurring between 2017–18 and 2018–19 (a 15% increase), followed by a 11% increase between 2022–23 and 2023–24 and a 10% increase between 2021–22 and 2022–23
  • as a share of total revenue, contributions from care recipients decreased for both home care providers (from 5.7% in 2017–18 to 2.2% in 2024–25) and residential care providers (from 27% in 2017–18 to 21% in 2024–25).

Figure 4: Revenue for home care and residential care providers, 2017–18 to 2024–25

Care types

Source: Financial Report on the Australian Aged Care Sector: 2020–21 to 2024–25.
https://www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/

COVID-19 and government expenditure

The Australian Government continues to support aged care providers impacted by COVID-19 through specific funding measures. This includes:

  • Aged Care Outbreak Management Support Supplement to contribute to the cost of planning for and managing outbreaks, including COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
  • Surge workforce program to help eligible aged care homes manage COVID-19 outbreaks and maintain high-quality, safe care for residents. Surge workers can be quickly placed when all other avenues for staffing have been exhausted.
  • Commonwealth Home Support Program Emergency and Critical Need Grant Opportunity (GO7393), which assists providers with financial support to respond to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances.

For further information on government spending in response to COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care, see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act and the Financial Report on the Australian Aged Care Sector.

 

Where can I find out more?

Related information can be found on other GEN topic pages:

For more information about government spending on aged care, view the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act.

For more detailed data tables, view the Report on Government Services.

For information on the financial performance of the aged care sector, view the Financial Report on the Australian Aged Care Sector and the Quarterly Financial Snapshot of the Aged Care Sector.