Ageing Australia welcomes the Federal Government’s $3 billion dollar commitment to aged care in the upcoming budget as a vital first step, with more work needed to cater to Australia’s surging ageing population.

Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Ageing announced:

• New targeted capital subsidies for residential aged care, providing additional funding for supported residents for newly built or refurbished homes.

• An increase to the Accommodation Supplement.

• Structural changes to introduce new tiers, and additional payment for homes with more than 60% supported residents

The government says the package will deliver an extra 5000 beds a year.

We welcome any investment in aged care that can provide more beds at a difficult time for the Australian economy.

We have highlighted time and time again, that additional investment into aged care cannot wait and beds do not build themselves.

So we’re pleased that the government has heeded these warnings and pushed some of the outcomes of the accommodation review forward.

Whilst the announcement is a good start, we have been very clear with government that much more will be needed if we’re going to build 10,000 additional beds each and every year over the next two decades. In addition, need to make sure that existing beds don’t close.

The $5 increase for existing beds announced today is less than half the $13 gap between current funding and the cost of providing accommodation.

And the need is urgent.

To put it into perspective, last year instead of 10,000 beds, we built only 800.

Even now we’re showing strains on the system with residential aged care sitting at about 94 per cent capacity nationally, and in many capital cities, that number is 100 per cent.

More and more homes are putting up the no vacancies sign every day.

Ageing Australia also welcomes the government’s commitment of $200 million for 20 additional Specialist Dementia Care Program units and an expansion of the Hospital to Aged Care Dementia Support Program.

The government has also promised to release more Support at Home Packages, with details to follow in the federal budget.

At last count more than 200,000 Australians were waiting for a package or waiting just to be assessed, so we eagerly await the government’s announcement.

Tom Symondson, Ageing Australia CEO

Our shared understanding of ANZAC Day

As ANZAC Day approaches, communities across the Ovens Valley will once again gather in the stillness of dawn, united in remembrance.

In towns both large and small, from our local memorials to the quiet country cenotaphs, there is a shared understanding of what this day means. It is not just a date on the calendar, but a deeply personal moment for many families. Stories of service, sacrifice and loss are woven through generations, carried in old photographs, medals, and the names etched into stone across our region.

In the Ovens Valley, that connection runs deep. We are a community that values service, not only remembering those who have served, but supporting the veterans who continue to walk among us. Their strength, humility and quiet resilience are a powerful reminder of what has been given for the freedoms we often take for granted.

ANZAC Day asks us to pause. To reflect not only on the past, but on the responsibility we all share to carry forward the values of courage, mateship and sacrifice.

As the sun rises this ANZAC Day, may we stand together in gratitude and respect, ensuring that the legacy of those who served is never forgotten.

Lest we forget.

Tim McCurdy, Nationals MP for Ovens Valley