What bed licenses do we record in Aged Care financial reports

A client shared this update with us in October 2025

In line with the commencement of the new Aged Care Act on 1 July 2025, a new residential aged care system will be introduced assigning residential places directly to older people, known as Places to People.

This change will mean that residential aged care providers will no longer need an allocation of places from the Aged Care Approvals Rounds (“ACAR”) to deliver government-funded aged care services.  

In preparation for the introduction of Places to People, residential aged care providers are required to remove all bed licences listed as intangible assets on their financial balance sheets.

Each provider is recommended to have consulted with their accountants and auditors on the best approach to removing any bed licences listed.  Data provided for the 2023-24 Aged Care Financial Reporting (ACFR) has identified that bed licences from your residential service(s) have not yet been removed and/or have not reduced in value from the previous 2022-23 financial year.  

Consultations with the financial sector in 2021 and 2022 found that this reform would not impact the sector’s cash balance as there is no cash outflow.

Whilst there will be an impact on the financial results of providers with bed licences, as presented in their financial statements, consultation found that the removal of bed licences should not directly affect the cash flow of any provider, and these changes are unlikely to have any major financial impacts.

More information is available on our website: Places to people – Embedding choice in residential aged care | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care If you have not already done so, we would encourage you to ensure an approach has been agreed with your accountants and auditors so that all bed licence values are removed from your financial balance sheets by the conclusion of the 2024-25 financial year.

If you require any further information or have any questions, please contact the Places to People reform team at ACAR.transition@health.gov.au.