The Government has announced a record $300 million investment to expand and upgrade aged care services across regional, rural and remote Australia.
The funding, delivered through Round 3 of the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program (ACCAP), will support 66 infrastructure projects to improve residential care facilities and provide staff accommodation, strengthening workforce attraction and retention outside major cities.
This round will deliver 315 new or reopened aged care beds in areas of greatest need, along with $87 million across 12 projects dedicated to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through culturally respectful services.
The Government will also deliver the largest single ACCAP grant to date, with $51 million allocated to build a new 94-bed aged care home in Broken Hill. In addition, an Expression of Interest will be released in October to identify a provider to partner in developing a 120-bed facility in Darwin, fulfilling Labor’s $60 million election commitment to the Northern Territory.
Since 2022, the Government has invested $951 million through ACCAP, with this round adding to the $651 million already committed.
Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Sam Rae, said the funding marks the most significant aged care infrastructure boost ever made by a Federal Government.
“The Albanese Government is supporting more older Australians to age with dignity in the communities they know and love, regardless of where they live.”
Sam Rae
“Labor’s $300 million funding boost is the largest single aged care infrastructure investment by any Federal Government. Our unprecedented investment in rural and remote aged care will help providers create better and more comfortable homes that deliver the world-class care older Australians with higher care needs deserve,” Mr Rae added.
For more details on ACCAP grants and funded projects, visit www.health.gov.au/accap
