Engagement Hub


IHACPA is committed to open and transparent consultation with health and aged care stakeholders, government departments and agencies and the public.

Take part in consultations, surveys and conversations that interest you, and find out more about decisions we've made.

Open consultations

  • Consultation Paper on the Pricing Framework for Australian Residential Aged Care Services 2026–27

    IHACPA has released the Consultation Paper on the Pricing Framework for Australian Residential Aged Care Services 2026–27. We invite you to have your say, with public consultation now open. Everyone with an interest in aged care is encouraged to have their say. To ensure all areas of residential aged care are represented, we are particularly interested in hearing from: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples providers in...

    Closes 22 August 2025

Closed consultations

We asked, you said, we did

Below are outcomes for some of the issues we've recently asked about.

We asked

From 14 August to 20 September 2024, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) conducted a public consultation on the Pricing Framework for Australian Residential Aged Care Services 2025–26.

You said

A total of 46 submissions were received from various stakeholders. This includes older Australians, carers and families, residential aged care providers, peak bodies, government departments and agencies, and researchers.

As part of the consultation, feedback was gathered on the following areas:

  • Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) branching structure and funding model
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specialisation and base care tariffs
  • homeless specialisation and base care tariffs
  • residential respite care
  • proposed changes to IHACPA’s residential aged care pricing principles.

Key findings from the feedback include:

  • support for updates to the aged care pricing principles to better reflect current aged care pricing methodologies
  • stakeholder concerns that cost differences between AN-ACC classes 2 and 3 (independent mobility classes) may be related to residents experiencing cognitive impairment, mental health conditions, challenging behaviours and complex care requirements
  • support for ongoing cost collections to evaluate the costs associated with residential respite care and ensure pricing advice reflects the costs to deliver services
  • stakeholder concerns with the current approach to pricing and costing of allied health care, which accounts for the level of care currently provided, not the level of allied health care clinically assessed for residents
  • the need to understand the costs to deliver culturally appropriate residential aged care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including workforce support
  • stakeholder requests to ensure people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and marginalised groups within the homeless population receive culturally appropriate care, through investment in specialised staff training and other resources.

We did

The Pricing Framework for Australian Residential Aged Care Services 2025–26 Consultation Report summarises the feedback received during the public consultation period.

The pricing framework and consultation report 2025–26 will inform the development of the Residential Aged Care Pricing Advice 2025–26.

We asked

From 7 June to 8 May 2024, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) conducted a public consultation on the Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services 2025–26

You said

A total of 27 submissions were received from various stakeholders.

We did

The Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services 2025–26 Consultation Report summarises the feedback received during the public consultation period.

The pricing framework and consultation report 2025–26 will inform the development of the Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services 2025–26.