The federal government has announced an indefinite deferral of home care price caps for older Australians. The price caps, which were due to begin on July 1 and were intended to prevent older Australians from being overcharged, have now been delayed indefinitely, although other financial protections have been introduced in the meantime.

Health Minister Mark Butler told the ABC he had postponed the price limits over concerns about “baking in” volatile cost increases resulting from the Iran war, which has affected broad sections of the economy.

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the Support at Home program, which provides help with cleaning, showering, transport and clinical supports such as nursing and occupational therapy.

Providers welcome delay amid uncertainty

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will have the power to order refunds for services where providers are found to be overcharging. The commission will also be able to act against providers who fail to issue monthly statements and require regular public reporting on investigations and enforcement action.

Changes to private health insurance rebates for older Australians will not be scrapped. Discounts on the rebates for over-65s will be wound back, with more than three million people expected to pay about $240 a year more for insurance. Butler said the measures were designed to redirect funding into aged care and make rebates more equitable across age groups.

Two Greek Australian aged care providers in Victoria, PRONIA and Fronditha Care, both welcomed the changes. Tanya Connor, PRONIA’s General Manager Clinical Operations and Service Delivery, pointed to a lack of available data to “support evidence-based price setting” for home care. Fronditha Care said it “welcomed the reforms introduced to ensure transparency across the aged care sector”.

Faye Spiteri, CEO of Fronditha Care, said that “any pricing framework must reflect the real cost of delivering safe and high-quality care, particularly for providers such as us who support elders predominantly from the Greek community”.

Connor said the government’s “pathway”, together with its work with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission “to understand and create a detailed response to define ‘reasonable’ pricing”, was welcome.

“The deferral till July 2027 will help government and Support at Home providers including PRONIA better understand provider costs, consider the impacts on participants and service delivery, and ensure there is adequate lead time for any future implementation,” Connor said.

Cultural care remains central for Greek Australians

Spiteri also highlighted the “extremely volatile” economic landscape and the “significant operational pressures affecting all providers”. She pointed to the Stewart Brown Aged Care Financial Report,  which found that more than 68 per cent of providers are financially unviable.

“The Government’s decision to delay the implementation of price caps was necessary and very welcome,” Spiteri said.

She also welcomed the advocacy work of Ageing Australia, which she said had raised sector concerns over the past six months about the risks of introducing caps before the IHAPCA funding models were fully formed.

“Whilst affordability of services for older Australians is important, financial sustainability of providers is critical. If providers cannot foresee a viable future they will exit the market. And we are already seeing this,” Spiteri told Neos Kosmos.

Recruiting bilingual staff and delivering culturally appropriate care requires extra resources, stronger workforce capability and ongoing support for communication and social connection. Photo: Fronditha Care

Given that many Greek Australians prefer ageing at home, current funding arrangements remain a critical issue. Connor said PRONIA has serviced the Greek community for more than five decades, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

“We understand not just the language, but the lived experiences — migration, hardship, family, identity — and how these shape people as they age,” Connor said.

PRONIA’s Greek-speaking care workers, care partners and counsellors, she added, support people “not just practically, but emotionally and culturally as well”.

“When we talk about care, we’re really talking about understanding the whole person — their story, their experiences, and what matters to them,” Connor said.

Spiteri also emphasised the culturally and linguistically appropriate services Fronditha Care provides to ensure “the dignity, wellbeing and respect for elders”. She said current funding arrangements are insufficient to meet “the additional investment required by providers”.

“Recruiting bilingual staff, maintaining culturally aligned programs, supporting communication with families and ensuring social connection all require additional resources and enhanced workforce capability,” she said.

“The aged care system must evolve to properly support specialised providers that deliver culturally centred care.”

Rising costs and workforce pressures intensify

Spiteri said that Fronditha Care was “working on a solution in relation to this which will be announced shortly”.

Older people, particularly in times of stress, she said, “return to what feels familiar and safe — and that is often their language, their culture, their identity”.

“Being able to speak in Greek, to connect with someone who understands their background, to engage in familiar routines — these are not small things. They can significantly reduce anxiety and improve wellbeing,” Spiteri said.

“Culture is not an ‘extra’ in care — it is a core part of how people feel safe and understood.”

Ensuring Greek Australians understand costs and access to services is also critical. Connor said “clear communication, and supportive conversations” with participants and families were essential.

“It is hard enough for our community to navigate the aged care system as non-English speakers or those with English as a second language, so engaging and communicating all changes is very important to us and the participants,” Connor told Neos Kosmos.

Spiteri said Fronditha Care provides information in both English and Greek and ensures clients and their families can discuss rights and entitlements, agreements and services with bilingual staff “who can explain the details clearly and effectively”.

“We go the extra mile — we invest significant time and resources in supporting clients to understand exactly what services they receive, what their government funding covers and what co-contributions may be required under Support at Home,” Spiteri said.

The changes to private health insurance rebates for over-65s are also expected to affect many elderly Greek Australians. Spiteri warned that any reduction in rebates “risks placing further financial strain on people who are often living on fixed incomes”.

“As the Australian population ages, maintaining a focus on preventative healthcare and access to services is important for supporting healthy ageing and reducing pressure on primary health services, alongside supporting people to live at home independently and safely for as long as they can,” she said.

Inflation and economic volatility have also impacted aged care providers. Spiteri said Fronditha Care had experienced “substantial increases in operational costs, especially workforce-related costs and the cost of service delivery”.

Greek aged care providers rely heavily on a skilled workforce to deliver culturally specific services. Spiteri said Fronditha Care was investing in “innovation and technology to support productivity”.

“Our workforce is the backbone of our organisation … we have taken proactive steps to support our people during this particularly challenging period,” she said.

To help ease the impacts of economic volatility and cost-of-living pressures, Fronditha Care has introduced “a temporary fuel allowance on top of existing entitlements, reinforcing flexible working arrangements and providing additional financial support such as One Fronditha Rewards, which gives our people access to a range of discounts”.

Limiting price rises to twice a year may also affect providers dealing with rising operational costs. However, providing “certainty and stability for our elders and community is very important”, Spiteri said.

“We understand why the Government needs to make difficult decisions about future funding of the aged care system,” she said.

However, Spiteri stressed that “flexibility” remained necessary.

“We operate in a highly dynamic environment where costs can change rapidly and negatively impact operational strategy and plans,” she said.

She added that policy and services “need to balance the operational realities of delivering safe and sustainable care”.

Spiteri said Fronditha Care’s “priority” remained ensuring those in care continue “receiving high-quality services whilst we build our workforce capacity, deliver our vision through innovation underpinned by our 10-year strategy and maintain the sustainability of our business.”

As Australia’s aged care system undergoes major reform amid growing global economic volatility not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, providers say ensuring culturally safe, financially sustainable and accessible care for older Greek Australians remains critical to helping communities age with dignity, security and connection.