By Andrew Brown in Canberra

Aged care residents won’t have to pay extra for help with basic tasks such as showering and dressing after a backdown by the government.

Changes to aged care, which came into effect in November, required some recipients to pay more for basic support services.

While the reforms were meant to improve the care levels offered, those on Support at Home packages had fees attached to services such as help with showering.

It meant that in some cases, elderly residents were forced to choose between receiving help with showers at the expense of other care and having fewer showers.

Health Minister Mark Butler is set to detail changes to aged care measures, along with reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday.

Aged Care Minister Sam Rae said support for showering will now be classed as clinical care and the payments will no longer apply.

“Obviously, older people have made clear that they want showering, they want dressing and continence management considered as clinical care, and that’s the change that we’re making,” he told ABC TV on Wednesday.

“We always said when we were implementing these generational changes that we’d listen to older people and we’d respond to their experiences of the new system.”

The changes to aged care packages stemmed from recommendations from a royal commission into the sector, which was handed down in 2021.

As part of the overhaul, more tiers of home care were introduced to ensure needs were more closely met, while also making wealthier Australians pay more for services.

Mr Rae said while the program had been in place for less than six months, changes needed to be made.

“This system’s only been in place since November. Now’s the time to start making the adjustments to get better outcomes for older people,” he said.

“Aged care does take up a significant part of the budget. It’s a $40 billion system on an annual basis, and it does need to be sustainable.

“Of course, Australians need to have sustainable systems in place when it comes to social care.”

Ageing Australia chief executive Tom Symondson welcomed the decision to scrap payments for help with showering.

“Sweeping reforms will always have unintended consequences, and we’ve been clear from the outset that charging contributions for showering needed to be kept under constant review to ensure the best possible outcomes for older people,” he said.

“Particularly alarming has been the increasing evidence that older people were reducing the number of showers they had or forgoing them altogether due to cost. That is the worst possible outcome.

“Showering is not just about hygiene and health, it’s about basic human dignity.”