Published on Wednesday, 8 April 2026 at 3:41:43 PM
Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s fight for fairer aged care funding has received a major boost, with a new Federal Government review recognising the city faces challenges that are not properly reflected under the current system.
The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has welcomed the release of the Review of the Remoteness Classification System for Aged Care, which used Kalgoorlie-Boulder as a case study and found the current funding model does not adequately reflect the realities of delivering aged care in isolated regional communities.
In simple terms, the review found Kalgoorlie-Boulder is being treated like a standard regional centre on paper, despite its distance from Perth, high operating costs, workforce shortages and role as a service hub for surrounding remote communities.
That matters because the way a city is classified helps determine the level of support available to aged care providers.
A key issue raised in the review is inconsistency in regional classifications applied to aged care and disability providers in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Aged Care services are classified as MM3, whereas disability providers are assessed under a separate National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) framework aligned with MM6, reflecting a higher level of regional complexity.
This can create unintended workforce inequities, complicating staff attraction and retention for aged care providers.
The review recommends Kalgoorlie-Boulder be included in a new national aged care Priority Areas list, which could open the door to more stable, long-term funding for local providers and reduce reliance on short-term grants.
Deputy Mayor Terrence Winner said the outcome was a strong sign that years of advocacy were paying off.
“We have been saying for a long time that Kalgoorlie-Boulder is not the same as other large regional locations when it comes to delivering aged care,” Deputy Mayor Winner said.
“This review backs that up. It recognises the cost of distance, the pressure on workforce, and the fact we are supporting a much bigger catchment than our population alone would suggest.”
He said the findings were important because they moved the conversation beyond theory and toward practical change.
“If you can’t attract and keep staff, local services suffer. That is the real issue here,” he said.
“This is about making sure older people in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the wider Goldfields can continue to access the care they need, close to home.”
The review also identified Kalgoorlie-Boulder as part of a deeper national evidence-building process looking at how factors such as housing, liveability and industry pressures should be considered in future funding models, rather than relying on geography alone.
Deputy Mayor Winner said the City would keep pushing until the recommendations were turned into real outcomes.
“This puts Kalgoorlie-Boulder in a much stronger position, but the job is not finished,” he said.
“We now need to see these findings turned into fairer funding and a system that reflects the reality on the ground.”
The full report is available on the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care website.
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