Aged care sector analysis and report 2025

Australian Unity is the largest provider in the home care market. Other organisations that moved up the ranks include HomeMade Support, Pearl Home Care, Dementia Caring Australia, Trilogy Care, Right at Home and Five Good Friends.

In the residential aged care market, Opal is the largest provider in Australia, with significant growth from acquisitions and new openings. Several other top 25 providers also grew in FY24, including Bolton Clarke, Estia, Arcare, Aegis, Anglicare (Sydney), Mercy Care, Hall & Prior, and Thompson Health Care.

The government has committed ongoing support to the aged care workforce, allocating $2.5 billion over five years to meet the increased wage costs of aged care nurses across all aged care programs. There is also an ongoing $291.6 million commitment to aged care reforms over five years. Learn more: Federal Budget 2025 | Breakdown & analysis.

The Support at Home program is a major reform in Australia’s aged care system, starting 1 November 2025. It will replace the Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care programs, with plans to transition the Commonwealth Home Support Programme no earlier than 1 July 2027.

The program aims to simplify and improve how older Australians receive in-home care by introducing a single, streamlined system with a new funding model based on assessed needs. It is designed to offer more personalised, flexible, and timely support, helping people remain independent in their homes for longer.

KPMG believes the program will drive an increase in the number of providers entering the market, creating more competition and further market consolidation. We will be keeping a close eye on the impacts of the new program and will provide in-depth analysis and insights as part of our 2026 aged care industry analysis.

The financial performance of residential aged care providers has improved, with 65.9% of providers reporting a year-to-date net profit before tax as of June 2024. This improvement is driven by an increase in revenue per resident per day, which exceeded the corresponding rise in expenses. However, accommodation performance continues to present a financial challenge for providers.

The demand for Home Care Packages continues to grow significantly, leading to delays for many older people between assessment and receiving a Home Care Package. The National Priority System waitlist had 68,586 people waiting for a Home Care Package at their approved level as of 30 June 2024, a 124.8% increase from the previous year.

In the residential aged care sector there has been a 0.9% annual growth rate of people accessing care since 2017, but the number of available places have been growing faster at 1.3%. Historically, this has led to lower occupancy rates, but from FY23 to FY24, the number of residents grew by 3.2% while places grew by 1.0%.