Care and support is one of the fastest growing parts of the Australian economy. To meet growing demand, a significant reform agenda is underway across different parts of the sectors that make up the care and support economy –  aged care, early childhood education and care, veterans’ care and disability support. The state of play provides a summary of the approach and progress toward achieving the Government's vision and goals in this area.

Reviews and inquiries in recent years have highlighted challenges to delivery of high quality services across the sectors, and the interdependent nature of the service systems means addressing challenges like workforce shortages and appropriate regulatory settings needs to be carefully managed.

The government's vision is for a sustainable and productive care and support economy that delivers quality care and support with quality jobs. Realising this vision will require aligning and appropriately sequencing reforms across multiple sectors and government programs over the next decade; three high level goals will help achieve this vision.

1. Quality care and support: person-centred care and support that recognise those accessing it as individuals and deliver quality outcomes.
2.  Quality jobs: secure, safe jobs with fair wages, conditions and opportunities for career development.
3. Productive and sustainable: systems of care and support are effective and sustainable and harness innovation to generate efficiency gains that do not compromise quality of services.