The Aged Care Act 2024, commenced on 1 November 2025. It has ushered in the most significant overhaul of aged care law in a generation. Grounded in rights, dignity and accountability, it replaces a 25-year-old framework with one built around transparency and fairness for older Australians.
For nurses, the largest health professional group in aged care, the new Act brings long-awaited recognition of their leadership, yet with higher expectations, more documentation, and little relief from mounting workloads. As one nurse said, “Reform means little if nurses are too exhausted to carry it out.”
A rights-based framework with new demands
The Act promises safer care through mandated 24/7 Registered Nurse coverage and an average of 215 minutes of care per resident per day, including 44 minutes from an RN. It introduces a new Code of Conduct, stronger whistleblower protections and expands the Serious Incident Response Scheme to include home and community care.
While the legislation recognises nurses as clinical leaders responsible for oversight and mentoring, it falls short on providing time or funding for training and education. Many nurses are asking how they can fulfil new responsibilities without structured support.
Policy versus practice
In total, 88% of aged care homes report meeting the RN care minutes requirements. Yet beneath those numbers are roster adjustments and duty reclassifications that stretch nurses thin. Increasingly, employers are including non-care duties such as dining assistance or lifestyle support as care minutes, a practice that dilutes the intent of reform.
Meanwhile, resident care needs are rising. Nurses manage complex medical conditions, dementia, and palliative care, often spending more time on compliance paperwork than bedside care. “We spend more time proving care than providing it,” one Victorian RN said.
Other countries, such as New Zealand and the UK, show that sustainable reform depends not only on regulation but on strong workforce investment and retention.
Pay, pressure and professional strain
Despite public wage announcements, many nurses and care workers are still waiting for full pay increases. Some employers have offset rises by reducing hours or revising roles.
Nurses feel accountable for new standards but unsupported by funding or staffing levels to meet them. Smaller and regional homes face additional financial pressure, with closures affecting staff security and resident continuity of care.
What still needs fixing
- Workforce shortages: Ongoing RN and EN gaps threaten compliance, care standards, and care continuity.
- Training time: No protected funding or release time for nurse supervision and education.
- Transparency: Unclear tracking of new funding and care-minute supplements.
- Accountability: Need for stronger auditing to ensure public funds reach the frontline.
The human face of reform
At the bedside, reform means risks translating into longer shifts, more reporting, and increasing care complexity if not implemented as intended. Nurses welcome the renewed focus on dignity and rights but question whether the system can sustain it without investing in its workforce.
The new Quality and Consumer Advisory bodies could give nurses a stronger governance voice if they are supported to participate. As one nurse noted, “The Act recognises us as leaders. Now it must give us the time and tools to lead.”
What nurses need next
- Ongoing recognition and appropriate remuneration.
- Protected training time with funding that formalises nurse education and supervision duties.
- Accurate reporting to stop counting non-care tasks as care minutes.
- Safe staffing ratios by basing staffing on resident acuity, not averages.
- Transparency to facilitate tracking of funding to ensure tax-payer funded investments reach the bedside.
Empower, don’t exhaust
The Aged Care Act 2025 is a long-awaited step forward for older Australians and those who care for them. But reform without resources cannot succeed.
If Australia truly wants aged care built on dignity, it must extend that same dignity to nurses through fair pay, time to lead, and genuine workforce support.
