Australia’s residential aged care sector has reached two significant milestones, with national occupancy climbing to its highest level in nine years and average advertised room prices surpassing $600,000 for the first time.
According to Mirus Australia’s June 2026 Industry Analysis, based on May 2026 data, national occupancy rose to 93.12 per cent, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth and the highest level recorded since May 2017. At the same time, average advertised room prices increased to $604,919, with 168 aged care services lifting their highest advertised prices during the month.
The findings point to sustained demand growth across the sector, with providers continuing to absorb increasing resident numbers while maintaining workforce capacity.
Mirus Australia founder Rob Covino said the sector was experiencing a period of strong momentum.
“The sector is absorbing more residents, pricing rooms with more confidence, and processing reassessments faster than we have seen in some time,” Mr Covino said.
“That is a genuinely positive picture. What we are watching now is whether workforce planning catches up, because the providers who grow sustainably are the ones who plan their workforce as carefully as they manage their funding.”
Despite growing demand, total care minutes delivered per resident per day eased slightly in May, falling from 229.94 minutes to 228.65 minutes, a decline of 0.56 per cent. Registered nurse care minutes fell by 0.83 per cent, while allied health minutes dropped by 7.32 per cent.
Mirus said the decline reflected providers managing higher occupancy and resident complexity levels rather than a reduction in staffing commitment. Average AN-ACC case mix increased to 216 minutes per resident per day, up 1.4 minutes since November 2025, indicating residents are entering care with increasingly complex needs.
Funding indicators remained largely positive. Average Daily Subsidy (ADS) dipped marginally by five cents to $313.47 in May, although Mirus attributed the decline to timing effects associated with backdated reassessments rather than any structural reduction in funding.
Claiming activity fell from 7.35 per cent to 6.68 per cent during the month, but reassessment processing times improved substantially. Nationally, the average time from reassessment request to completion fell from 18.71 days to 16.57 days, an improvement of 11.4 per cent.
Mirus Australia Head of Data and Insights, Tyler Fisher, said providers with strong AN-ACC processes were continuing to secure funding uplifts.
“The providers who are capturing uplift consistently are the ones who have built systematic processes around AN-ACC, not just responding to reviews but anticipating them,” Mr Fisher added.
“The data makes that gap between operators increasingly visible.”
The report also identified a slowdown in admissions activity. New permanent admissions declined by 11.18 per cent from 4,596 in April to 4,082 in May. Meanwhile, respite-to-permanent conversion rates fell from 53.54 per cent to 48.78 per cent.
Short-stay occupancy, defined as stays of less than six months, also continued its gradual decline, representing 19 per cent of all stays nationally. Mirus said the trend suggests a growing proportion of residents are entering aged care for long-term accommodation rather than shorter-term support.
While demand, occupancy and resident complexity continue to rise, the report warns providers will need to closely monitor workforce capacity to ensure care delivery keeps pace with the sector’s ongoing growth.
