When the Aged Care System Changes, Dignity Must Remain

Change is a part of every stage of life. It shapes who we are, challenges what we know, and often asks us to imagine something better. 

Australia's aged care sector is experiencing all these stages at once. 

When the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety exposed serious failures across the system, it prompted a national reckoning about how we support older Australians. The findings were confronting, but they also created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a system that better reflects the dignity, rights and respect everyone deserves as they age. 

That journey is one we’re travelling today. 

Like any season of change, it brings uncertainty. Change can be uncomfortable and can challenge established ways of thinking and working, and yet, it is also how renewal begins. 

One of the most significant outcomes of this renewal was the introduction of the Aged Care Act 2024 which came into effect in 2025, replacing legislation that guided the sector for nearly three decades. 

Much has changed since the previous Act was introduced in 1997. Expectations have evolved, communities have changed, and Australians are living longer, more diverse lives. The new Act seeks to recognise this reality by placing older people at the centre of decisions about their care and support. 

At the heart of the Act is a simple but powerful idea: older people are not passive recipients of care, and are instead individuals with rights, preferences, aspirations and life experiences that deserve to be respected.  

UnitingCare Australia strongly supports this vision and has long advocated for an aged care system that recognises the inherent value and worth of every person as they age. After all, respect, choice and dignity should not be considered aspirations for older people – they should be the baseline. 

As agencies founded in the Uniting Church in Australia, UnitingCare providers are grounded in the belief that every person has worth, regardless of age, circumstance or vulnerability, and a rights-based approach to aged care reflects that belief. 

However, passing legislation is only one part of reform, and the next challenge is turning principles into everyday experiences for the people who rely on care. 

Across the UnitingCare network, providers are navigating what this transformation looks like in practice. This work is complex, not because aged care providers are resistant to change, but because meaningful change is rarely simple. 

New systems bring new reporting requirements, compliance obligations, technologies and ways of working. While these measures aim to strengthen the aged care system and improve outcomes for older people, they also require significant time and effort from a workforce already occupied with supporting older Australians each day. 

Whether it is a support worker helping someone remain independent at home, a nurse providing clinical care in a residential aged care setting, or an office worker managing the behind the scenes work that makes care possible, this workforce is balancing two important responsibilities at once: delivering care while adapting to a system transformation. 

In many ways, providers have become both navigators and guides on this aged care journey - helping older people and their families make sense of a new system while adapting to the changes themselves. Much of this work happens quietly and without complaint, but it is important to recognise that this is causing friction. 

This raises an important question: how do we move forward through this period of change, recognise its challenges, and preserve the human side of care? 

There are no simple answers. Meaningful reform is complex and change on this scale inevitably brings pressures for providers, government, workers, older people and families alike. But it also presents an opportunity to work together to build something better. 

The new era of aged care has begun, and the real work now lies in turning the promise of reform into meaningful outcomes for people to experience greater dignity as they age. For faith-based providers, that remains both our challenge and our calling.