Home care position stable but unspent funds rising
The home care sector has reported an increase in earnings and profit but a decline in liquidity.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has published its quarterly financial snapshot for April to June 2025, reporting a stable net profit before tax position for the home care sector.
The sector’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation was also stable.
Sector EBITDA was a positive $598.4 million, the department noted, up from $561.6 million at the same time last year, but the median EBITDA margin was 6.7 per cent, down 0.8 percentage points.
The percentage of profitable providers year to date was down 1 percentage point, sitting at 75.7 per cent, but the sector saw a $553.1 million NPBT – up from $528.8 million last year.
Home care NPBT per resident per day was $5.71, and EBITDA was $6.18, up $0.02 and $0.14 respectively from Q4 2023-24.
But there was a decline in the margin, which the department has attributed to the sector expense growth of 10.6 per cent exceeding revenue growth of 9.8 per cent in 2024-25.
The department pointed to the 4.2 per cent increase in claim days and an increase in utilisation of home care packages as the drivers of revenue growth, while labour costs was identified as the driver of rising expenses.
Staff costs up, liquidity ratio down
Total median staff costs increased to $58.05 per care recipient per day in Q4 2024-25, a 9.3 per cent rise from Q4 2023-24.
The sector median average hourly rate also increased for all direct care staff, and is now $52.50 for registered nurses, $39.51 for enrolled nurses and $34.93 for personal care workers.
Meanwhile, the median sector liquidity ratio continued to decrease and is now 0.79, compared to 0.82 in Q4 2023-24 and 0.81 in Q3 2024-25.
Unspent funds still high
The department noted that as of 30 June, there was $4.1 billion in unspent Home Care Package funds, up from the $3.6 billion at 30 June 2024.
This includes $3.8 billion in the home care account – a $0.6 billion increase – and $0.3 billion in the provider-held portion of unspent funds, a $0.1 billion decrease.
The department’s data shows a slightly lower amount of unspent funds than the $4.3 billion StewartBrown reported in its Aged Care Financial Performance Survey Report (FY25).
The department also noted 53 new home care providers entered the sector, and 39 left, bringing the total to 923.
Follow Community Care Review on Facebook and LinkedIn and sign up to our newsletter.
