COTA Australia – for older people

A Care Together Project

Exploring the feasibility of co-ops and mutuals as an effective and sustainable service delivery model which acknowledges, enables and empowers the decision-making capabilities of people self-managing their aged care home care package.

Project location

Rural and remote areas.

TBA (Tasmania and Western Australia have been identified as potential trial sites).

What is the market failure being addressed?

Older people and their families say the existing Home Care Package (HCP) Program model falls short on offering them genuine choice and control over the day-to-day functions of their package. Many, especially those who self-manage, experience the program arrangements as imposing an unnecessary high level of provider dependence. For them, the existing model works to entrench provider paternalism and ageism rather than empowering them to use the package funds to optimise independence and the achievement of personal health and wellbeing goals.

People self-managing their HCP want a more robust service delivery model. They know, want and have the experience and skill to take more responsibility in:

1. managing their involvement in the HCP Program
2. choosing and coordinating the care and services that best meet their needs and goals
3. being accountable to government and taxpayers

Older people wanting to self-manage their HCP package (approximately 10 percent of HCP consumers) are ideal candidates for the proposed co-operative model. At the completion of this project, it is anticipated increasing numbers of people will see the co-ops and mutuals approach to HCP self-management as fundamental to optimising package funds and enabling them to live independently in their own home and community for as long as possible.

What is the project seeking to achieve?

The aim of the project is to use a place-based, empowerment approach to augment the HCP Program’s goal by enabling people self-managing their HCP to maximise the choice, flexibility and control they have over: 

• the types of services they receive 
• how they receive services 
• who provides the services 
• when services are provided

Phase one

To work with older people and/or their families to investigate the feasibility of importing and sustaining co-operatives within the aged HCP program by:

1. understanding the policy and physical infrastructure required to test the cooperative model
2. assessing its potential to provide an innovative solution to improving the appropriateness and sustainability of home care in areas where the current service delivery platform is not empowering participants to optimise their independence and wellbeing.  

Phase two

To establish and grow a viable and sustainable network of consumer-led Home Care Packages (HCP) cooperatives within the aged care service landscape, especially in rural and remote areas, as well as other ‘thin markets’. The establishment of a network of HCP cooperatives will heighten HCP participants’ political visibility and advocacy. 

COTA co-design workshop

A groundbreaking workshop held on 11 February 2025 brought together older Australians from across the country, marking a significant step toward reimagining the management of aged care packages.

Led by Gillian McFee, Peter Hunt and Nick Hislop, the exploratory session aimed to investigate consumer-led co-operatives as a means to empower older Australians with more choice and control over managing their Support at Home package.

The workshop focused on assessing how this model could align with regulatory requirements and the practicalities of self-managing package funds through a co-operative structure.

Key outcomes included clarifying the co-operative’s purpose, defining its practical functions, identifying gaps in service delivery, and outlining the skills needed for its operation. Additionally, the session explored the sustainability of the model and addressed potential barriers, offering solutions to overcome them.

Project update: Phase 1

The work led by COTA Australia and the Care Together Program has laid important groundwork to explore how user-led primary care co-operatives could be introduced into Australia’s aged care system, particularly in regional areas. In June 2025, consumer participants gave clear and enthusiastic support for further testing of the co-operative model post the November 1 changes to the Aged Care Act.

These legislative changes require that only registered providers can deliver government-funded aged care services, meaning independent workers, sole traders and casuals will need to contract through or be employed by a registered provider. This shift reinforces the relevance of co-operatives as a way for home support recipients who self-manage their packages to collaborate, pool resources and exercise greater flexibility and control within the new regulatory framework. Further, the recent consolidation of government portfolios covering health, ageing and disability presents an opportunity for integrated policy and program support that could underpin the long-term sustainability of participant-led co-operatives in aged care.

Building on the strong engagement and insights collected from consumers actively self-managing their home support packages, COTA and Care Together continue to champion this participant-driven approach. The next phase will focus on practical implementation in a suitable regional location, testing governance, business models and service delivery while ensuring compliance with new legislative requirements. This work promises to advance a co-operative model that truly puts older Australians and their families in the driver’s seat of their care.

Hear from COTA

Sophia Petrov, National Manager Policy Engagement COTA Australia, shared:

“We’ve been working with people aged 50 and over for more than seven decades across a range of different areas and one of the most pervasive things we see is the increase in ageism.

“Older people receiving aged care services tell us that they want to have more control over what happens in their lives, and so that’s what our project will aim to deliver.

“Older people who self-manage their packages know they have the skills and practical experience to be more than passive recipients of care and support. They see the co-ops and mutuals model as a way of demonstrating their capability to manage their own lives.

“This project poses several challenges, but there is also the prospect of a great model emerging which genuinely puts power back into the hands of the people.”