The concept of Shared Care is to take a small portion of a large number of village residents’ Community and Home Support packages and apply those funds to the full village, which would deliver economies of scale and investments in wellness supports for all residents. The saving to the taxpayer would be about $100 million a year.  

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced in December last year $5.2 million over three years from FY26 had been assigned to initiate a pilot program for Shared Care that will “allow participants to combine their budgets to achieve economies of scale in service delivery”.    

“In recent weeks we’ve been inundated by more than 20 retirement village operators wanting to be involved in this pilot, indicating strong interest, appetite and willingness to advance this important initiative,” said Daniel Gannon, Executive Director of peak body Retirement Living Council, who released a 48 page policy argument detailing the Shared Care concept 11 months ago. 

“Given Australia’s ageing demographics, the housing deficit and our care challenges, the retirement industry’s value proposition has never been stronger or more important."   

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