Aged care technology and advisory firm Mirus Australia said there has been a considerable amount of providers putting up their advertised room pricing since January 2025, noting the average room price is up by 6.51 per cent for this calendar year. It expects another change in price activity in July.
Mirus Australia data scientist Tyler Fisher told Australian Ageing Agenda the delay to the Aged Care Act may see some providers take a wait-and-see approach, but much of the significant price change activity Mirus has observed is a result of the maximum RAD increasing from $550k to $750k, which took effect 1 January.
“Further clarity around the new regulatory and funding settings will only add to the need for operators to adapt their go-to-market strategies,” he added.
Data also showed an increase in total care time by 1.34 per cent from April to May, and in registered nurse time, which rose by 1.52 per cent. The significant rise is a step forward for the sector as it continues to approach the 215-minute target, Mirus noted.
Occupancy also saw an increase, rising by 0.64 per cent in May, which Mr Fisher told AAA is correlated with the increased advertised room prices but is not a direct cause- and-effect relationship.
“Occupancy growth is typically driven more by local demand, changing consumer preferences, and overall service quality. Price increases often follow occupancy improvements rather than lead them. For providers, the solution as occupancy rises is to ensure any price adjustments are backed by clear value for residents – through facility upgrades, strong care outcomes, or enhanced amenities – rather than simply reflecting demand,” he said.
Other findings
The report showed the average daily subsidy has remained stable, only seeing a decline of $0.16, backfilling the slight declines from recent months. Mirus Australia said the more recent month is always artificially lower due to the nature of reassessment requests being backdated several weeks to their effective date.
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