Late last year, the Federal Government announced $900 million in additional funding for aged care services operating in thin markets or providing services for cohorts with particular needs, such as people with diverse backgrounds.
$600 million was pledged for Support at Home, and $300 million for infrastructure funding through the existing Aged Care Capital Assistance Program.
CEO, Boneham Aged Care Services
This week, the Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells announced the $300 million first round of the Support at Home Thin Markets Grant is open.
The grant is open to Home Care Package and Short-Term Restorative Care providers (transitioning to Support at Home from 1 July 2025) with operations in outer regional, rural and remote areas, and/or providers that hold, or have applied for, Specialisation Verification for aged care services.
According to GrantConnect, the first round of the grant provides one year of funding in 2025-26 which will be "supplementary to fee-for-service revenue and can be used flexibly for appropriate business and service delivery expenses".
Grants not enough
During Senate Hearings on the Aged Care Bill last October, Michael Filsell, CEO of Not For Profit SA aged care provider Boneham Aged Care Services, which has 1,000 Home Care Packages, 2,500 Commonwealth Home Support Program clients and 948 residential aged care places, said the grants were not enough.
"The last Modified Monash Model 5 to 7 grant funding round was oversubscribed 10 to one," he said at the time.
The Grant is open now on GrantConnect, closing 2pm 23 April 2025.
