Structural and individual costs of residential aged care services in Australia. The Resource Utilisation and Classification Study: Report 3

The Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI), University of Wollongong, was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health (the Department) in August 2017 to undertake the ‘Resource Utilisation and Classification Study’ (RUCS). The RUCS is an important national study commissioned by the Department to inform the development of future funding models for residential aged care in Australia. The purpose of the analysis covered in this report is to identify the drivers of care related costs that are fixed for residential aged care facilities. These are costs that relate to the characteristics of facilities rather than the care needs of individual residents. This study was the second of four separate but interrelated and overlapping studies undertaken to inform the design and implementation strategies for future funding reforms in the Australian residential aged care sector.