Aged care and NDIS update archive
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Published by Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
eNRMC transition deadline extended to 31 March 2027
The Department has extended the eNRMC Transitional Arrangement from 31 December 2026 to 31 March 2027. Residential aged care homes using the arrangement should still prepare to move to an electronic prescribing system that meets conformance requirements before 1 April 2027. The fact sheet also covers ongoing PBS claiming arrangements and actions for providers, prescribers and pharmacies. The extension changes the transition date; it does not verify a local product, authorise a prescriber, or relax medication-safety, privacy or access-control duties.
Document and workflow checks
- Confirm whether each residential aged care home is using the eNRMC Transitional Arrangement or a conformant electronic prescribing system, and record the accountable transition owner.
- Check the current official conformance information with the software vendor and coordinate migration, testing, training and support with prescribers and pharmacies before 1 April 2027.
- Map PBS claiming continuity, downtime, resident-safety escalation, identity and access-control checks, and evidence retention into the authorised local transition plan.
- Keep resident, medication, prescribing, pharmacy and system-access records in authorised clinical and provider systems, not in CaresLink.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
The extension is a transition deadline, not permission to defer medication-safety controls or continue with a nonconformant system after 31 March 2027. CaresLink does not assess system conformance, authorise prescribing, manage PBS claims, provide clinical or pharmacy advice, or replace official transition guidance.
Published by Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Residential aged care: BIR and MPIR for October–December 2026
For 1 October–31 December 2026, the residential aged care base interest rate (BIR) is 3.75% and maximum permissible interest rate (MPIR) is 8.51%. The Department published these rates on 10 September; July–September rates were 3.25% and 8.43%. Use the rate applicable to the relevant agreement, entry or refund date rather than applying the new quarter to every resident.
Document and workflow checks
- For accommodation payments, check the MPIR on the room-price agreement date; for accommodation contributions, check the MPIR on the date the resident entered care in that service.
- Check refund and late-payment interest separately against the official guidance: different date rules apply. Do not automatically reprice every existing resident using the new quarter's rates.
- As a local review prompt, retain the source, applicable date, rate and review owner in your authorised records, not in CaresLink.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
A quarterly rate table is not a blanket resident fee increase or an individual calculation. CaresLink does not calculate accommodation charges or refund interest, provide financial or legal advice, or replace official guidance.
Published by Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
ACQSC alert: preventable medication administration errors
ACQSC's 9 September 2026 alert follows findings about three preventable resident deaths. It reiterates existing medication-safety obligations and expectations, not new legislation. The Commission says medicine given to the wrong person or taken by mistake requires immediate medical review in all circumstances.
Document and workflow checks
- Review escalation, incident recording and open disclosure with the older person and their supporters. Check SIRS reporting requirements; do not assume every medication error is reportable.
- Assign review owners for workforce training, supervision and high-risk medicine controls against the official alert.
- Keep clinical records in the provider's authorised system, not in CaresLink. Documentation must not delay medical review.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
This is a regulatory alert, not a treatment guide or a new law. A medication prompt record is not a medication administration chart. CaresLink templates do not authorise administering medicines, replace medical review or official reporting, or prove compliance.
Published by NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
NDIS reminds unregistered providers of Code of Conduct obligations
On 4 September 2026, the NDIS Commission said it had contacted more than 285,000 unregistered providers, including sole traders identified through NDIS plan payments. The reminder concerns existing Code of Conduct obligations and enforcement, not a new universal registration requirement. The Code applies to registered and unregistered providers and their workers.
Document and workflow checks
- Review induction and refresher materials against the official Code and learning resources, and record the source, review date, and follow-up owner.
- Use factual case notes and handovers to record support delivered, concerns raised, actions taken, and outstanding follow-up under your organisation's procedures; a completed template does not prove Code compliance.
- Recheck who handles concerns and where staff find official guidance. Keep personal records in your organisation's authorised system, not in CaresLink.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
This is an existing-obligation and enforcement reminder, not a new universal registration rule or permission for a particular provider to remain unregistered. Check registration requirements separately. CaresLink templates support documentation; they do not establish compliance, replace official guidance, or provide legal advice.
Published by Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
AN-ACC price increases to $303.19 from 1 October 2026
On 2 September 2026, the Department announced that the AN-ACC price will increase from $295.64 to $303.19 from 1 October 2026. Its 28 September schedule now lists the daily subsidy and supplement dollar rates effective from that date. It estimates average Australian Government funding will increase from $317 to $325 per resident per day. The change does not alter care minutes requirements, the AN-ACC Base Care Tariff category structure or classification weightings, but the scheduled dollar amounts must be refreshed. The hotelling supplement remains $22.15 per resident per day.
Document and workflow checks
- Update version-controlled residential funding assumptions for 1 October 2026, retaining the prior and new AN-ACC prices, effective date, official source, and checked date.
- Check the Department's 1 October schedule for applicable daily dollar amounts; record that care minutes requirements, Base Care Tariff category structure and classification weightings do not change and that the hotelling supplement remains $22.15 per resident per day. Do not change staffing, classification or fee workflows solely because of this price update.
- Treat $325 per resident per day as the Department's estimated average, not a home-specific forecast or entitlement, and keep this price change separate from wage implementation and GO8512 grant eligibility and evidence.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
This is a national price and schedule update, not a provider-specific payment, resident fee, entitlement, care-minutes determination or staffing instruction, and it does not mean every home will receive the estimated average. The Base Care Tariff category structure and classification weightings remain unchanged, but scheduled dollar amounts have been updated; check the official schedule rather than reusing old amounts. CaresLink does not calculate funding, entitlement, staffing, fees, payroll, accounting or compliance outcomes.
Published by Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Residential payment-on-services-delivered transition starts 1 July 2027
On 27 August 2026, the Department announced a staged change for residential providers funded under AN-ACC and related subsidies and supplements. From 1 July 2027, existing providers' advances will reduce by an additional 4.17% each month as payment in arrears increases, until all funding is paid in arrears from 30 June 2029. New approved homes operating on or after 1 July 2027 will be paid on services delivered. The Department's implementation page says providers will keep submitting their monthly claim after the end of each calendar month and the change does not create a new claim process. NATSIFACP and MPSP residential providers are excluded. The total funding amount providers receive will not change.
Document and workflow checks
- Classify each home and funding stream as in scope under AN-ACC and related subsidies or supplements, or excluded as NATSIFACP or MPSP, and record the basis.
- Add 1 July 2027 and 30 June 2029 to a versioned finance transition register. Identify new homes expected to operate from 1 July 2027 and assign owners for advance, arrears, reconciliation, cash-flow, claim, payment-statement, and software records.
- Model the documented additional 4.17% monthly advance reduction separately from total funding, and retain the existing end-of-calendar-month claim handoff unless later authorised instructions change it.
- Keep both Department sources and their checked dates. Do not infer a provider-specific payment, accounting, liquidity, entitlement, or fee result from the general transition pages.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
This change concerns future payment timing and the mix of advances and arrears; it does not announce additional funding or establish a provider-specific payment outcome. The linked implementation page says there is no new claim process, but neither source determines a provider's reconciliation, cash-flow, accounting, resident entitlement, or fee outcome. CaresLink does not determine entitlement, claims, accounting treatment, liquidity compliance, or readiness.
Published by Services Australia
Printed cost-of-care form ordering ends 30 November 2026
Services Australia published on 25 August 2026 that, from 30 November, it will stop supplying printed aged-care cost-of-care forms through its print ordering system. Care recipients or their correspondence nominee are directed to apply online through myGov and Centrelink. Paper applications are not being abolished: people can still download and print the current form if needed. Use the current version. The announcement does not state a change to cost-of-care eligibility, form submission, or the separate SA462 financial-hardship claim.
Document and workflow checks
- Replace instructions that rely on ordered printed stock with the current official online route and Services Australia form landing pages.
- Check the person's circumstances against the current official route before referring to SA456, SA457, or SA485, and record the source checked date rather than storing financial evidence in CaresLink.
- Before a financial-hardship handoff, confirm whether Services Australia already holds a cost-of-care calculation updated within the previous 12 months, and recheck paper fallback instructions near 30 November 2026.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
The change ends printed-form ordering through the print ordering system; it does not abolish paper applications. CaresLink does not select a form, determine whether a person must apply, assess financial hardship, calculate costs or contributions, receive evidence, or provide legal, financial, eligibility, billing, or professional advice.
Published by Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Aged care wage funding and GO8512 leave liabilities grant
The Department's guidance covers funding related to Fair Work aged care wage increases for relevant registered nurse and enrolled nurse roles from the first full pay period on or after 1 August 2026. Applications are also open for Grant Opportunity GO8512, which may help eligible providers meet part of the increased annual or recreation leave, personal or sick leave, and long service leave costs arising from the 1 August 2026 wage increase for eligible aged care nurses. The grant covers 25% of the Fair Work Commission increase to eligible leave entitlements for registered residential providers and 50% for eligible Support at Home, CHSP, Transition Care, and NATSIFACP providers. Multi-Purpose Services are funded through existing agreements and are not eligible to apply for this grant. This is a grant opportunity, not an automatic payment or full reimbursement. Separately, the Department has now published the official Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements with rates applying from 1 October 2026, including the Support at Home subsidy and relevant supplements connected to the nurse award wage increase. Published quarterly budget figures remain indicative and do not change a participant's classification. A provider considering a nursing-service price change must explain and discuss it with the participant and obtain informed agreement before changing the price or service agreement. Refusal does not itself justify ceasing a service: any cessation must satisfy legal and contractual requirements and support continuity or transition. Increased funding is not paid in advance and remains subject to the normal post-service claim and payment process.
Source checked
Open official source (opens in a new tab)Open the archived record- Aged care worker wages guidance (opens in a new tab)
- Support at Home funding for the aged care nurses award wage increase (opens in a new tab)
- Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Support at Home (opens in a new tab)
- My Aged Care: Support at Home funding changes from 1 October 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Document and workflow checks
- Assign owners across workforce, payroll, finance, and operational teams.
- Record which classifications and official pay source were reviewed outside CaresLink.
- Keep written communication dates, timing notes, and any back-pay follow-up owner.
- Maintain funding evidence and record the owner for Quarterly Financial Report information and attestation.
- Check the GO8512 Grant Opportunity Guidelines for full eligibility, claim, and evidence requirements; do not treat the 25% or 50% rate as a share of total wages or total leave liabilities.
- Record the questions deadline of 5:00 pm Canberra time on 29 September 2026 and the application deadline of 2:00 pm Canberra time on 6 October 2026, with an authorised submission owner.
- For Support at Home, record the 1 October funding source and the applicable subsidy or supplement, distinguishing indicative quarterly figures from actual published rates and provider-specific payments.
- Before proposing a nursing-service price or service-agreement change, record the explanation, discussion and informed participant agreement. Do not treat a participant's refusal as permission to cease the service.
- Keep any service cessation, continuity and transition process within applicable legal and contractual requirements. Do not record increased funding as received in advance; reconcile it through the normal claim process after eligible services are delivered.
- Keep the Support at Home subsidy change, participant pricing, GO8512 grant and any separate personal-care contribution change as distinct workstreams.
Related CaresLink resources
Usage boundary
Published funding schedules are not provider-specific payment results, automatic permission to increase a participant's price or change a service agreement, permission to cease a service, or advance funding. The Support at Home subsidy change is separate from GO8512 and any personal-care contribution change. CaresLink does not decide grant eligibility, calculate funding or wages, prepare or submit applications or claims, promise payment, or provide award, payroll, industrial-relations, pricing, financial, legal or professional advice.