Dear Minister, Here's How to Fix Aged Care: 6 Policy Asks From 9 Months on the Frontline

We've spent nine months listening to the people actually running aged care in this country. Here's what we'd tell the minister if we had five minutes. In today's episode we distil nine months of guest conversations into six direct policy asks for the Minister for Aged Care, Hon Sam Rae. From letting good operators prove better models of care, to scrapping star ratings and fixing care minutes for good, this is the open letter the sector has been waiting to send.  As it stands, we need a new aged care home every three days for the next 20 years. Last year, we built around 800 beds. The maths doesn't work, and neither does pretending it will fix itself. If you're a provider, board member, or policymaker trying to make sense of where this sector is headed, these are the six changes we believe matter most. Key moments: 00:00: What 9 months of conversations has taught us about the state of Aged Care In Australia 7:37: What a 90% death rate in residential care actually tells us  11:13: Why good operations need a legal way to prove a better model  14:22: Why care minted don’t measure what actually matters 17:06: What a 2025 study found when it tested care minutes against outcomes 26:34: Why CHSP needs to be saved, not scrapped 26:50: What it would actually cost to fund Aged Care properly  36:38: Why the start ratings aren’t relevant  37:40: Dear Minister, do the 6 things and fix the future of Aged Care in Australia — Connect with Dane and Rose or the Podcast on Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-mitchell-763ba524 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-plater-0a111a129 https://www.linkedin.com/company/time-well-spent-podcast If you want to book a free Reablement Planning Workshop with Optimum Allied Health, visit www.opthealth.com.au/tws If you’re starting to scope out your next project, get in touch with Paynters over at www.paynters.com.au  If you are building a new care facility today, or embedding care into an existing village, you should talk to Eevi.  Visit eevi.life or call 1300 802 738.