Residential Aged Care Supply in 2025–26: Who’s Growing and Who’s Exiting?

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has published its first List of Aged Care Homes and Branches under the Aged Care Act 2024. It records every operational residential home at 30 June 2026: 2,596 homes and 226,165 beds. A year earlier, the Service List recorded 2,590 homes and 224,493 beds.

The net change is small: 6 homes and 1,672 beds, or 0.7%. We matched every home in the two lists to see what sits underneath that figure. In the year, 21 homes opened, 15 homes dropped out of the list, 179 homes changed their bed numbers and 61 homes changed operator.

This Insight sets out those movements by state and by type of transaction, and identifies the trends that are continuing and those that appear to be picking up pace.

Supply grew by less than 1%

Table 1: Residential beds, 30 June 2025 to 30 june 2026

Source: DoHDA Service List 2025; DoHDA List of Aged Care Homes and Branches 2026.

Treasury’s 2026 Intergenerational Report puts annual growth in the population aged 85 and over at about 4% now, rising towards 8% around 2030 (Chart 4.6). Bed numbers grew at less than a fifth of that rate in 2025–26.

The homes coming into the list differ from the homes leaving it. The 21 new homes average 98 beds. The 15 homes that left average 35 beds. 18 of the new homes are in metropolitan areas, and private providers built 14 of them (1,530 beds). Arcare alone opened 6 homes.

The 15 homes no longer listed are not all closures. Of these, 2 are offline while their operators rebuild them (Mona Vale House and Estia Health Bentleigh). Another 7 are smaller public or community homes whose beds moved to another home on the same or a nearby site, including three Monash Health homes replaced by the new Boollam Boollam Aged Care Centre. A further 3 closed outright, and 1 lost its approval. We could not find a public explanation for the remaining 2.

Figure 1: Movements making up the net change in beds, 30 June 2025 to 30 June 2026

Source: DoHDA Service List 2025 and List of Aged Care Homes and Branches 2026.

Victoria and New South Wales added the most beds; Western Australia and Tasmania went backwards

Table 2: Change in residential beds by state and territory

Figure 2: Net change in beds by state and territory

Source: DoHDA Service List 2025 and List of Aged Care Homes and Branches 2026.

Victoria added the most beds despite losing 10 homes from the list, because its 8 new homes were large and several public homes consolidated into bigger replacements. New South Wales added 8 homes and lost 2. The ACT's 6.9% rise comes from 2 new Arcare homes.

Queensland grew by 86 beds. A new home (Estia Health Cleveland, 151 beds) was largely offset by 2 homes leaving the list (106 beds). Western Australia added one 22-bed home but removed more beds at existing homes than it added. Tasmania's fall reflects the closure of Rosary Gardens in Hobart.

Bed changes inside existing homes almost cancelled out

At the 2,575 homes that appear in both lists, 179 changed their bed numbers. Those increases added 1,022 beds, the reductions removed 873, and the net gain was 149 beds. 63 homes changed by 10 beds or more, in both directions. The largest increases were at Croydon Grove Care Community (60 to 128 beds) and Arcare Springwood (110 to 171). The largest reductions halved 2 homes in Queensland and New South Wales, each from just over 100 beds to about 55.

The list does not say why a home's beds changed. Extensions, room conversions and beds taken offline for refurbishment all produce the same movement.

61 homes and 6,180 beds changed operator

During the year, 2.8% of all residential beds moved to a different provider. The 61 homes changed hands in 36 separate transactions: 25 single-home sales and 11 portfolio sales that together moved 36 homes.

Table 3: Transactions by type of seller and buyer

Organisation type as recorded in each list. A home whose provider changed legal entity within the same group is not counted here.

Figure 3: Beds that changed operator, by type of seller and buyer

Source: DoHDA Service List 2025 and List of Aged Care Homes and Branches 2026.

Queensland was the most active market. 25 homes and 2,648 beds changed operator there, or 6.0% of the state's beds. Victoria followed with 15 homes and New South Wales with 14. Western Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory recorded none.

Table 4: Largest acquirers, 30 June 2025 to 30 June 2026

Respect and Regis also sold or transferred homes in the year; figures show acquisitions only.

The activity falls into 4 main patterns:

1. Private portfolios trading between private groups. Vacenti to Estia, Rockpool to Regis, Norsan to Estia, Australian Aged Care Group to Opal and Autumn Care to Infinite Care together moved 19 homes.
2. Community-owned homes joining larger not-for-profit groups. Chaffey Aged Care and Glenella Care joined Respect, Cabanda Care joined Lutheran Services, the Society of Saint Hilarion joined Scalabrini Communities and Walara took over the Ardrossan home.
3. Larger providers selling individual homes or groups of homes. BlueCare transferred 7 Queensland homes to Respect, and Regis sold its Ayr and Home Hill homes to Ozcare.
4. Council exits. The Rural City of Murray Bridge sold Lerwin to Roshana Care Group.

33 provider groups left residential care altogether. 24 of them operated a single home.

The legal map changed more than the physical one

A further 208 homes are listed under a different provider name within the same organisation or group. Some are formatting changes to the registered name, and others are restructures. BlueCare's 38 remaining homes are now held by UnitingCare Queensland Limited. BaptistCare NSW & ACT's 35 homes are listed under BaptistCare. 17 TriCare entities became one. Queensland Health homes are now listed under individual Hospital and Health Services, and several Victorian public health services merged into Bayside Health and Western District Health Service.

These changes coincide with the commencement of the Aged Care Act 2024 on 1 November 2025 and its new registration model. The number of legal entities operating residential homes fell from 709 to 661. The 10 largest provider groups held 31.2% of beds at 30 June 2026, up from 30.0% a year earlier.

Trends that are continuing and trends picking up pace

Table 5: Trends in 2025–26

Reported items are from public announcements and sector media since 30 June 2026. They will appear in next year's list if completed.

Using the detail

National data sets are useful for calling out the major trends. Boards weighing an acquisition, a sale or a new build in a particular region will require a closer look at local factors.

About this analysis. Sources: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Service List 2025 (homes operational at 30 June 2025) and List of Aged Care Homes and Branches 2026 (homes operational at 30 June 2026), published on GEN Aged Care Data. Excludes Multi-Purpose Services, NATSIFAC and Transition Care.