Occupancy across metropolitan aged care services has passed 94 per cent for the first time in more than a decade, despite a sharp fall in new permanent admissions.
New figures from Mirus Australia show national residential aged care occupancy increased for the sixth consecutive month in July, reaching 93.54 per cent, up 0.28 percentage points from June.
The strongest growth was recorded in metropolitan services, classified as MM1, where occupancy reached 94.01 per cent.
The result comes as the number of new permanent admissions fell significantly. National admissions dropped 17.44 per cent during July to 4,252, while respite bed days fell by 5.77 per cent.
Mirus Australia’s Industry Analysis, which covers July 2026 data, suggests the rise in occupancy is therefore being driven less by new residents entering care and more by residents remaining in care for longer.
The proportion of residents who had been in care for less than six months fell to 17.21 per cent nationally and 15.88 per cent in metropolitan services.
The figures point to a continuing shift towards longer stays in residential aged care, with potential implications for providers’ funding, care requirements and accommodation revenue.
The occupancy increase has also coincided with significant movement in advertised accommodation prices.
July recorded the largest number of aged care services increasing their advertised room prices in a single month since Mirus began tracking the data.
A total of 362 services increased their highest advertised room price, while 356 increased their lowest advertised price. Both figures were more than five times the number recorded in June.
The weighted average advertised room price increased by 1.29 per cent during the month to $615,112, setting a new high for the series.
Average advertised prices first moved above $600,000 in May.
The scale of the July repricing suggests providers are becoming more active in adjusting accommodation prices after several months of more selective increases.
At the same time, care minute delivery eased from the rebound recorded in June.
Providers delivered an average of 227.22 minutes of care per resident per day in July, a 1.52 per cent decrease from the previous month.
Despite the decline, delivery remained 12.22 minutes above the mandated care minute target.
The combination of higher occupancy, longer stays and changing care minute delivery presents a different operating environment for providers compared with one in which occupancy growth is primarily being driven by a steady flow of new admissions.
For providers, longer resident stays can affect the composition and complexity of the resident population, while also influencing staffing requirements and the revenue generated from accommodation.
The July figures also underline the increasingly competitive nature of the residential aged care market as providers respond to changing demand and accommodation pricing.
With national occupancy now having increased for six consecutive months, the sector is approaching historically high utilisation levels, particularly in metropolitan areas.
The question for providers may increasingly be less about how quickly vacant rooms can be filled and more about how changing lengths of stay, resident acuity, staffing requirements and accommodation prices will affect the financial and operational performance of their homes.
