As we step into 2026, my hopes for aged care are being shaped very directly by the policy work underway, including responses to the IHACPA Pricing Framework, budget submissions, and the advocacy priorities being advanced by Ageing Australia.
I hope we continue to refine pricing frameworks, so they are sensitive to place. Regional providers operate with different labour dynamics, capital costs and scale constraints, and recognising these variations is essential if price signals are to support stable service delivery and informed investment decisions.
I hope accommodation pricing is treated honestly as the capital question it is. Expecting providers to renew ageing buildings, meet rising design and safety standards, and steward assets over decades, without realistic accommodation price settings, is not sustainable reform. Ageing Australia has been clear: funding and pricing must reflect real costs if quality and access are to be maintained.
I also hope we have a more honest conversation about funding for allied health and leisure and lifestyle services. These are not “extras”. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social engagement, reablement and meaningful daily activity are core to mobility, independence, mental health and dignity. Chronic under-funding in these areas shifts the system toward reactive care rather than prevention, increasing long-term costs while diminishing quality of life.
I hope IHACPA’s framework continues to mature toward genuine cost reflectivity, informed by observed data rather than constrained assumptions. Price signals shape behaviour, workforce investment and capital decisions, and when the signals are misaligned, services struggle to plan with confidence.
I hope the rights-based Aged Care Act is matched with funding and transition settings that make those rights deliverable in practice. Rights without resourcing do not empower older people; they place unsustainable pressure on the workforce expected to uphold them.
Regional aged care does not need special treatment. It needs fair treatment and pricing that reflects reality, risk and responsibility.
Here’s to a year of reform that listens carefully, measures properly, and funds what it expects.
Happy New Year.
Todd Yourell
