One year on from the introduction of the 24/7 Registered Nurse (RN) responsibility, the Albanese Government is continuing to deliver on its promise to put nurses back into residential aged care.
Aged care homes now have an RN on-site and on duty 24 hours a day, on average 99 per cent of the time, allowing greater care for older Australians and continuing our mission to restore dignity to aged care.
About 92 per cent of aged care homes report having a registered nurse on-site 24/7, a 6 per cent increase from 86 per cent in July 2023.
We have also seen improvements to the care minutes being delivered in residential aged care.
Older people in residential aged care are receiving an additional 3.9 million minutes of direct care every single day under the Albanese Government, including 1.7 million additional minutes of care from registered nurses.
The sector is delivering an average of 204.2 total care minutes, which includes 40.2 minutes from an RN.
Fewer rural and remote aged care providers have sought an exemption from the 24/7 RN responsibility in its second year, as they have been able to meet or surpass the minimum RN coverage threshold.
This continuous improvement reflects the collective impact of aged care reforms delivered by the Government, including workforce reform, and strong support from the aged care sector who are committed to providing the best possible care to residents.
