The Australian Government has announced an additional $115 million through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program (ACCAP) to increase access to residential aged care in areas experiencing the most acute pressure.
The first round targets Adelaide and the Illawarra, with providers in Perth and the Hunter able to apply in the second phase.
The intent is clear. The funding is designed to open new residential aged care beds as quickly as possible to relieve pressure on hospitals.
In Western Australia that pressure is particularly visible. Perth has emerged as one of the cities most affected by older people remaining in hospital beds when residential aged care would be a more appropriate setting.
According to comments from WA’s Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Simone McGurk MLA, shared on ABC Radio this week, around 360 people in Perth hospitals are currently eligible for a residential aged care bed.
Announcements like ACCAP are intended to respond to this immediate pressure, but they also highlight the structural challenge facing the sector.
Sector modelling suggests that developing a new residential aged care bed costs in the order of $600,000. On that basis, the new $115 million funding round would translate to roughly 190 additional beds nationally.
That is meaningful support but it is small compared with the scale of demand emerging across the system.
The WA Government is also supporting development through low interest loan programs, recognising the capital barriers providers face. Yet even with those initiatives the gap remains significant.
At Senate Estimates earlier this year the WA Minister for Aged Care noted that Western Australia alone will require an additional 2,800 residential aged care beds within the next five years to meet projected demand.
New construction alone will not solve the challenge.
Which brings the conversation back to a broader system question about how effectively the home care system works.
The success of Support at Home will be just as important as expanding residential capacity. When older Australians receive the right level of support earlier they can remain safely at home for longer, reducing pressure on hospitals and delaying the need for residential care.
The latest announcement takes total ACCAP funding to more than $1 billion since 2022, with a continued focus on regional areas where access gaps are often most severe.
For providers considering applying, the pathway to funding begins with an Expression of Interest.
One of the most common pitfalls in these submissions is that they read more like marketing material than delivery plans.
Government assessors are less interested in aspirational language and far more focused on credibility and execution.
Strong applications clearly demonstrate the strategic need in the community, the organisational capability to deliver, a realistic development timeline, and governance structures and delivery partners.
In other words, the question being assessed is not simply what providers would like to build, but how confidently they can deliver it.
As pressure on the aged care system continues to grow, funding opportunities like ACCAP will remain important.
They also prompt a broader reflection for providers and policymakers about how to expand capacity in a way that is sustainable, timely and aligned with the changing expectations of older Australians.
